


Loving a Ghost Isn't Easy

by laheysmythes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Dark Humor, M/M, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-02-06 06:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12811860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laheysmythes/pseuds/laheysmythes
Summary: “Well you’re in luck because guess what? You’re never getting rid of me again,” Liam grinned slowly from ear to ear as he witnessed Theo’s shocked reaction.In which Liam dies and comes back as a ghost and Theo is the only person that can see him.





	1. Guess what? I'm dead

**Author's Note:**

> If there's one thing y'all need to know about me is that ghost!fic is one of my favorite themes in a fic and of course I had to write this.

Theo didn’t have a great life but at least it wasn’t literal hell, and that’s what he called progress.

He ended up parting ways with the pack after they defeated the Anuk-ite, although a bit reluctantly, but he came to terms with the fact that they were never going to accept him and he wasn’t going to spend time in a place where he wasn’t wanted.

That didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to miss one stubborn younger beta with severe anger issues. Part of him would, a part that was so deep down buried in some place in his heart (or mind maybe?) beneath unhealthy coping mechanisms and emotions he pretended weren’t there, courtesy of living in a cave with psychopath doctors for half of his life.

He had settled down somewhere else in California, working a somewhat shitty full-time job with minimum wage that allowed him to cover the basics: a crappy one-person apartment, utilities, food and gas.

It could’ve been worse, really, he could’ve continued sleeping in his car or living in the sewers, so Theo wasn’t about to start complaining.

Life was lonely sometimes. Most of the times.

He’d wake up really early, then ate a rushed breakfast to get on time to work. At his workplace he didn’t make friends with his coworkers, he wasn’t interested in it because he knew that people sooner or later would start asking questions about his personal life and he wouldn’t be able to answer most of them (or any of them).

Sometimes he really hated how nosy people could be.

On times where loneliness got to be too much he allowed himself to think of the memories: broken noses, couple punches, several snarky phrases exchanged, yellow glowing werewolf eyes, arguments that got nowhere, half lies like ‘I’m not dying for you’...

As if his thoughts had summoned the person he was thinking of, the silhouette of the younger boy appeared making his way towards the couch where Theo was sitting on, the lightbulb in the small room flickering.

Theo let out a bitter laugh, cursing his mind for having the ability to mock him in a time where he felt the most alone and emotionally tired. He truly hated himself a lot sometimes.

“What are you laughing at, asshole?” The boy standing in front of him complained, and even though Theo wasn’t afraid of much, the cold voice managed to send a shiver down his spine.

“You’re not here,” Theo mocked the voice, slurring his words and making him seem like he was drunk even if he wasn’t.

“Yes I am... technically,” Liam frowned as if he had been caught in an act, looking down to analyze his own hands.

“No, you’re in Beacon Hills, far away from here,”  _ far away from me _ were the words unspoken.

“I’m not, I’m dead,” Liam challenged and Theo half-glared, telling his own mind to stop playing games. He looked down at his own phone, temptation to call the beta’s phone to make sure everything was okay too persistent to ignore.

Whatever image of Liam he had conjured up wouldn’t seem to leave, only kept staring at him, and Theo felt nervous under the fake stare. He hovered his thumb over Liam’s contact name, tapping his finger repeatedly against the case of the phone.

“Well,” the silhouette spoke again, raising his eyebrows impatiently. “Aren’t you gonna call?”

“You know what-“ Theo started and he got into a pointless argument with Liam’s vision that as of right now felt more like his conscience speaking up than anything else.

In between the overlapping dialogue, Theo had accidentally clicked on Liam’s contact number, hearing the ring that indicates he’s calling. Both boys went silent at that, Theo put it on speakerphone. After several painful unanswered rings later, someone with a broken voice picked up, and it definitely wasn’t Liam.

“Who’s this?” it was a female voice, the words were barely a broken whisper and the tone was filled with... grief. Theo gulped.

“This is um,” Theo got up from the couch and scratched the back of his neck in awkwardness as he scrambled for words to answer. “A friend of Liam’s, can I speak to him please?”

No words came out but Theo was met with the female voice breaking down into tears, the woman was filled with so much  _ grief _ that a simple sentence had managed to set her off and it made Theo wince in pain.

Seconds that felt like minutes passed, the noise of the phone being shuffled around and another person picking it up to answer was the only thing being heard. It had Theo on edge.

“Hello?” a familiar voice he knew answered, it was Mason. If anyone could give him answers it would be Mason.

“Mason, what’s going on? Where’s Liam?” Theo asked trying to not sound alarmed but rather calm - as calm as he could be.

“Liam is dead, Theo,” Mason said the words in such a serious tone, it made Theo freeze where he was standing. Now it was his turn to remain silent, his hand shaking along with the phone and he slowly turned around to meet what was apparently Liam’s... whatever the fuck it was.

He felt like part of him was in hell again, he had never felt this cold.

“How did he- how did he die?” Theo asked Mason after a while, eyeing cautiously the image of Liam standing right there in front of him with a blank expression on his face.

“Hunters came back again,” Theo flinched because if he hadn’t left, then maybe...

“He was alone, they uh, they grabbed him after lacrosse practice. Shot him around six times with yellow wolfsbane bullets, he didn’t make it,” Mason sounded like he wanted to break into tears just by retelling the events. Theo on the other hand wanted to murder whoever had killed Liam.

However, Theo remained silent after that. He was just so angry, his rage could be matched up against Liam’s, but also he didn’t know what to say to these people, Liam’s friends, that never trusted him or accepted him.

“There’s gonna be a funeral for him in two days, if you want to come or whatever. I know you two were... kinda close, so,” Mason stumbled on his words at the end, making Theo cringe a bit.

“Okay,” Theo began to say but his tone was choked up, it made Liam look up in reaction to it. There wasn’t much left to say, so Theo hung up the phone afterwards.

Now, to the problem at hand.

“What the fuck are you then?” it was the best thing Theo could come up with as he tried to assimilate the current situation. Liam had died  _ and yet  _ he was here, in this room, with him.

Times like these Theo wished he could get drunk because he would finish a bottle of whiskey in one setting.

“That’s it? I died and those are the words that you greet me with?” Liam deadpanned, crossing his arms. Whatever this... spirit, demon, _ thing _ was surely had nailed the short temper of the boy.

“I don’t know Liam- fuck, should I even call you that? You died,” Theo said as an affirmation.

“Mhmm,” Liam nodded along as if helping Theo process the information.

“But yet... you’re here. What are you, a demon? Came back here to haunt my ass since I left hell and all?” Theo questioned but sort of regretted it when he saw the offended expression Liam had.

“I’m not a demon!” Liam complained like if that was the worst insult he was told in his short eighteen years of life.

“I mean I always figured you were kind of diabolic, so,” Theo joked and Liam just remained glaring at him.

“Okay so not a demon,” Theo gave up after a while, Liam uncrossed his arms as if to say  _ ‘thank you’. _ “Enlighten me then.”

“I think I’m a ghost,” Theo snorted from his place, making Liam stop talking. The chimera said an unapologetic  _ ‘sorry’ _ to motion to Liam to continue talking.

“It was weird, I mean... when the wolfsbane from the bullets started taking effect I felt myself slipping away, lying in the cold street and I thought  _ ‘this is it’ _ , you know?” Theo nodded in agreement because he knew very well how it was like when you’re about to die.

“But then I woke up but no one could see me. I saw my mom and dad crying as they held each other, then there was my corpse in the cold steel table of the morgue. I kept trying to talk to them but they couldn’t hear me, I tried to reach for their hands but my hand went straight through...” Liam looked like he was trying to make sense of everything too, looking as confused as Theo was.

“Right. So why can  _ I _ see you?” Theo questioned and Liam shrugged.

“I don’t know! I tried with Mason and Corey, but nothing happened. Then with Scott and Malia, but nothing. Even Dr. Deaton because he came around Scott’s house that day. I’m invisible to them.”

“So why did you decide to try with me?” Theo asked.

“I just started walking and I didn’t even realize where I was going until I got here,” Liam confessed.

“How did you know where to find me?” Theo asked again and earned an exasperated sigh from Liam.

“What are you, the police with all these questions? Of course I knew where you were all this time, I wanted to make sure you were somewhat safe and still alive,” Liam said as if it was the most casual thing ever.

“Ironic, how you wanted to protect me yet you are the one dead,” Theo snarked because yes he was angry that Liam had been so careless. If he could he would kill him again just because.

“I still hate you, you know that?” Liam glared at him because he didn’t like the jokes.

“You’d stop being the Liam I know if you said you didn’t,” Theo replied with a fake smile, Liam mirroring it afterwards.

“Have you tried calling Lydia?” Theo changed topics because he wanted to know how he could help Liam.

“Yeah, because I can hold a phone,” Liam sarcastically said and then rolled his eyes.

Theo remembered again that apparently Liam could pass through things now, not being able to hold objects either. The chimera smirked in a way that said he was up to no good and then he threw a punch aimed to Liam’s nose, but it went straight through. Liam had closed his eyes as a reflex, and kept them closed even as Theo lost his balance and went straight through him.

“Well shit that was... creepy,” Theo shook his hand like the lack of contact had burned his entire body. It felt like he had gone through a cold wind current that ran all across his body, sending multiple shivers down his spine.

“What were you expecting to accomplish with that?!” Liam said in a worried tone, but at least being a ghost meant that he wouldn’t get punched in the face again.

“Had to make sure that it didn’t apply to me either,” Theo just shrugged and moved to the other side of the room where he had been initially in.

“And if it hadn’t applied to you?” Liam questioned.

“Then I would’ve punched you in the face, which is exactly what you deserve for being so careless in the first place!” Theo kind of exploded at the end and the look on his face after he finished speaking meant that he hadn’t intended to say all that out loud.

Theo was blaming himself internally because he felt he should have been there to save the werewolf, if maybe he had stayed...

“Even if you had been there it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. It was an ambush, we both would’ve been dead,” Liam said on cue as if he had been reading Theo’s thoughts. Which he couldn’t, for the record.

“I shouldn’t have left either way,” Theo’s voice was barely a whisper now. He sat on the couch and stared into nothing, fingers tapping on his own knee repeatedly, a sign of anxiety.

Liam noticed this, noticed how Theo was on edge instead of his regular calm and arrogant self. He didn’t want that for him.

“Well you’re in luck because guess what? You’re never getting rid of me again,” Liam grinned slowly from ear to ear as he witnessed Theo’s shocked reaction.

Theo sighed. This was going to be a long eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, it's me again. Against my better judgement I'm making this multichapter right on time for finals week (my brain has the worst timing sometimes). I was working on several prompts but got sidetracked with school, then until a while ago I started planning out this idea because [screams] i love ghost fics!!!
> 
> ALSO I don't intend to make this a sad fic at all, despite the fact that Liam is dead lol, if you've read some of my previous stories I kind of have a thing for humorish fics, so you can definitely expect that here.
> 
> Hope y'all like this maybe and I'll be updating soon!  
> -Alejandra


	2. Funerals don't let you rest in peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope this didn't turn out angsty (in my opinion it didn't but I mean, perspectives change from person to person) and the funeral scene had to happen for a reason. You'll see in later chapters why.

**** One of the advantages of Liam being a ghost is that he literally didn’t occupy anything. He didn’t need food, he didn’t need clothes or a phone, he only existed on air. Theo didn’t have to pay for anything extra and he was grateful for it, because his budget was already short to begin with and adding another person into the mix wasn’t going to help.

It only had been two days since Liam’s ghost made an appearance in his life, but Theo hadn’t felt lonely at all since he spent most of his time in Liam’s company. It was basically “til death do us part” but in this case it was Theo’s death what would separate them from one another.

If that even happened. Theo had more lives than a cat, he’s been through hell and back and survived, he was definitely here for the long run.

Sometimes he wanted a break though. These days work was being a pain in the ass and all he looked forward to was coming home and resting. But as soon as he tried that, there was a presence standing right behind him accompanied of a chilly wind and he knew all chances of rest were gone.

“Had a bad day at work?” Liam asked and Theo groaned, getting up and moving to the kitchen to prepare something to eat since he wouldn’t be able to just fall asleep and pass out like he intended to.

“Everyday is a bad day at work when you’re being underpaid,” Theo complained and it earned a chuckle from Liam.

“Wouldn’t know about that since you know, I never got to work,” Liam commented but it didn’t have a sadness to it, it was mostly ironic bitterness and that seemed to be his mood lately.

“So what are we gonna do about all of… _ this _ , Casper?” Theo added the mocking nickname at the end because he knew it would surely rile up the younger boy.

Liam stayed silent for a bit, eyebrows furrowed and lips turned into a thin line, thinking how to insult Theo back. “Sometimes I hate so many of the things you choose to say.”

“And yet you’re gonna be stuck with me forever,” Theo smirked and watched as Liam turned around and moved to the living room, pretending to sit on the couch, although he was mainly floating on air because if he as so much tried to actually sit on it he’d go straight through.

Theo opened the fridge and got the ingredients to make a sandwich. It may not be the finest of meals but it was what he was willing to invest time in to make something to eat. Minutes after he finished making his meal he walked to the small living room and went to sit on the couch, waiting for Liam to move but he wouldn’t. Theo raised his eyebrows in a threatening way that said _ ‘if you don’t move I’m going to sit on top of you’ _ , and after a groan complaining he moved.

“Can I come with you to work tomorrow?” Liam asked after a few minutes of silence since Theo was too busy devouring his meal to talk.

“Can’t. Tomorrow’s your funeral, I asked for the day off,” Theo stated and returned to eating his food.

“You’re going to that?” if Liam had a beating heart right now it would’ve skipped a beat.

“Yeah, someone has to. Besides, we need to talk to Lydia and see if she’s able to see you and if so, then she can help us fix this,” Theo motioned around with his hands for emphasis, but he didn’t want to discuss the topic more than that.

“What if I don’t want to go?” Liam frowned because going to your own funeral was some surreal shit he didn’t want to experience.

“Oh, believe me, you’re going,” Theo authoritatively said, leaving no room for discussion.

“You can’t make me,” Liam crossed his arms and glared, because there was no way in hell Theo could drag him against his will.

  
Theo did drag Liam against his will with him to the funeral after all. The chimera had threatened him that if he wouldn’t go he’d call him Casper for the rest of eternity and that had made Liam suddenly reconsider his options and saw he had no other choice but to go.

Neither of them wanted to be there though. 

When they arrived to Beacon Hills Cemetery after an hour and a half of driving, they started to see some familiar faces far away. Theo decided to park separately, away from all the other cars so he could just slip in and out easily without getting ambushed later for whatever reason.

Liam had been the messenger in between his pack and Theo, and probably the boy was the only reason why the chimera wasn’t currently locked up in jail, or even worse, back into the ground like last time. But even though he had him by his side, he was of no use.

They were watching the funeral from afar, Theo was standing beside a tree just in the right amount of distance to hear what was being said and to watch the whole… burial thing. 

“There’s so many people that I hate that are here, why are they even here?” Liam scrunched up his face as he took sight of some of the people attending the funeral. He pointed out several family members from the side of his biological dad’s family as well as some people from school that he hated. If Liam had a say in it he would kick them out because they wouldn’t let him rest in peace even when he was dead.

“At least you have people attending your funeral,” Theo said bitterly, remembering how when he died no one cared enough to even do anything. And even if they had a body to bury, no one would’ve attended. 

Still to this day, he had no one that cared enough to attend, if he ever died. The only person he could think of was already dead and by his side, scowling all the way through the ceremony, muttering ‘hypocrites’ to every single one of the people he hated.

There wasn’t much crying anymore - Liam figured that they had cried enough on the past week over his death to even have any more tears left to cry. Once the casket had been dropped to the ground and the people started to disperse, Theo focused on finding Lydia so he could ask what he came here to ask and then leave.

Luckily, she was closer to where Theo was and he pretended to ‘casually’ bump into her to start the talk, Liam by his side at every moment.

Theo wasn’t going to lie - part of him was afraid that Lydia was going to be capable of seeing Liam, and the other part of him was afraid that she wasn’t going to.

“You came after all,” Lydia pointed out at Theo, a somewhat knowing small smile was present in her face.

“Yes, uh, Mason told me about…” Theo nodded towards where the hole in the ground was being covered. 

Lydia nodded awkwardly, her lips forming into a straight line and for once the banshee didn’t have the words to speak. “Yeah, it was a real tragedy.”

Liam shifted at Theo’s side, staring at the chimera like he was trying to burn a hole into the side of his head. She was beginning to walk away because they didn’t have anything to say to each other, really, but Theo cleared his throat and found the courage to speak.

“Hey, Lydia,” Theo began to speak and the redhead turned around, surprised that the boy was still speaking to her. “I, uh, I have a question.”

Lydia eyed Theo curiously, and there it was again, the small hint of distrust in her eyes. But who could blame her, after all Theo had done real damage to her back when he was evil and trying to conquer the pack.

“Your powers…” Theo began, not knowing how to form the question into something coherent. He knew what banshees were capable of doing, but how could he ask  _ ‘Hey Lydia, by any chance do you see Liam’s ghost or am I going crazy?’  _ and not sound like a madman?

“What about them?” Lydia replied, now she was genuinely curious. She had a feeling what he was about to ask, but she wanted to be sure.

“Ask her if she can see me,” Liam prompted Theo, and there it was again, the cold shiver down his spine. “Ask her if she can see ghosts.”

_ “I’m trying to,” _ Theo barely whispered but then mentally slapped himself because Lydia began to look at him with a worried look on her face. “I know you can see dead people sometimes, but-”

“You’re wondering if I have seen Liam?” Lydia finished the sentence for him, a look of pity on her face. 

Both boys were surprised and somewhat hopeful that she would answer yes, that she could help them figure out what was happening, and more importantly to figure out a way to bring Liam back to life.

“I haven’t,” she said and the disappointment was evident on Liam’s face. “I don’t know how this works to this day, most of the times I hear voices telling me who is about to die… sometimes I hear voices of people close to me that died, but with Liam… I never heard anything coming from him.”

“So you don’t see… ghosts?” Theo had to ask even though it sounded so stupid.

“Once I saw a vision of another banshee but that was it. Ghosts don’t really exist, you know. Only the ghost riders, but that is different,” Lydia corrected Theo.

“Yeah, I know,  _ of course _ ghosts don’t exist,” Theo lied, because they did exists, and he had a very annoying one next to him.

In that moment Stiles joined them and he put a protective hand around her back, glaring at Theo with distrust evident in his eyes that made Theo bitterly smirk. In that moment the pair walked away, Stiles complaining about how cold the wind was for it to be the middle of April.

When Theo looked back at Liam he found the boy examining his hands like he had just discovered the ability to do something.

“Apparently I can make people feel cold without really trying,” Liam explained to Theo his newfound abilities, still staring at his hands in wonder.

“Congratulations. You’ve got one of the most useless powers, now let’s get going,” Theo motioned for Liam to follow him before he bumped into anyone else because he really didn’t want to talk to the rest of the pack. But as luck would have it, before he could leave he bumped into Scott. 

“Theo,” Scott said his name like he couldn’t believe the chimera was there and chuckled. 

“Scott,” Theo replied in an uncomfortable tone. “I was just leaving.”

Theo continued to walk to his truck but was stopped by Scott once again, who despite all their history, put a reassuring hand in the chimera’s shoulder.

“If you ever find yourself in danger, or if you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out,” Scott offered and it made Theo cringe because he was not expecting this at all. Even Liam was shocked by his side, not quite believing this was happening.

Theo nodded along and as soon as Scott let him go, he fastened his pace to the navy blue truck and got inside. Good thing Liam could pass through things, or else he would’ve been forgotten by the chimera at the cemetery.

“Something wrong?” Liam asked him, eyeing cautiously the chimera’s actions.

“Nothing. No point in staying when they can’t really help us, right?” Theo glanced at Liam once then proceeded to put the mode in reverse so he could get them out of that cemetery. Definitely one of the places Theo wouldn’t set foot ever again.

Now it was up to Theo apparently to make sense of this situation, and find whatever loopholes he could to bring him back. If Liam could bring him back from hell, why couldn’t he bring Liam back from whatever place he was stuck into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Theo would call Liam 'Casper', it's like he just signed up for a lifetime of mocking ghost jokes to pay off from the most likely hell jokes Liam ever made in his presence lol.
> 
> Next chapter will involve Theo trying to figure out exactly what Liam can and can't do and bickering will ensue. Stay tuned for that in the next couple of days!  
> -Alejandra


	3. Torturous Electricity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was attacked with like five different projects an an exam at school it threw me off of my schedule and I couldn't manage to finish the chapter until the weekend, I'm so sorry for the delay but I hope you enjoy this chapter!

It’s been a week after the funeral and they hadn’t made progress at all to bring Liam back.

Theo had been trying to find information regarding ghosts, because during his time with the Dread Doctors he doesn’t recall reading about that kind of supernatural, and google hadn’t been helpful at all. Most of the information related to ghosts was either conspiracy theories in forums or religious websites, and Theo was an atheist even after being in hell and everything.

During that same week he had tried several things to see if Liam could materialize somehow.

On the third day after the funeral he woke up earlier than usual, startling Liam where he had standing pretending to sleep. Theo went to the kitchen and quickly grabbed a bag of something that Liam didn’t get to see and then ran for the door.

“What are you doing?” Liam hissed as the front door opened. He didn’t understand what Theo was up to when the sun was barely rising outside. 

“Hey sir!” Theo called out to the poor mailman that was delivering mail to the apartment across the hall. 

Liam’s eyes went wide as he realized that the bag that Theo had in his hands was flour, and everything happened too fast afterwards. Theo opened the bag of flour and started to pour it on top of Liam, and he stayed in the same place, eyes shut. Sadly the flour went straight down to the floor instead of covering Liam.

“Nevermind then,” Theo contemplated the puddle of flour that was on the floor like it had betrayed him and then he closed the door, leaving a very confused mailman outside. 

“Son of a bitch, that tickled!” Liam complained, following Theo to where he was ripping apart a cereal box to fold it as a makeshift dustpan to pick up the flour, since he didn’t have a broom or an actual dustpan to sweep the mess.

“I just wanted to see if it worked,” Theo mumbled as he moved to clean up the mess.

“What did you expect it would do? Make me suddenly appear?!” Liam exclaimed, and if he could he would slap Theo for thinking something so stupid.

_ “No,” _ Theo lied. He wouldn’t admit to Liam that the only reason he tried it was because he found nothing on ghosts and he remembered once when he was a child, he saw in a cartoon when he that someone managed to make a ghost’s silhouette appear by throwing flour at them.

“What’s next, you’re gonna put a white sheet over me and cut two holes in it to make up for the eyes?” Liam mocked.

“I haven’t found anything, you dick. There’s no real information about ghosts, what do you want me to do?” Theo said, his tone rising as he dropped the flour into the trashcan. “I can’t exactly try to summon a demon, because despite what I think, you said you weren’t one.”

Liam rolled his eyes at the demon comment, staring at Theo afterwards. He noticed how the other boy was tense and seemed to be too worked up about this subject, and Liam felt a little bit bad about it. 

“We have time, okay? I mean, it would be ideal if we could solve it right away, but it’s not like I’m going to die if we don’t figure it out soon, right?” Liam said.

_ “Right,”  _ Theo nodded, but the way his eyebrows furrowed momentarily signaled he was anything but okay with that plan.

 

After the flour attempt, there was no more talk about a plan for the rest of the week. Theo went to work then straight home, and both boys spent the rest of the evening talking about mundane stuff (or more like Theo doing anything as simple as making a sandwich and Liam starting a civil argument over it). 

Them not talking about it didn’t mean that Theo wasn’t doing research about ghosts while at work. He worked in the front desk of a small library in town, and he often grabbed a book to read while he was on his shift. Right now his desk was stacked with several books on myths and ghosts that had seemed the most decent and legit judging by the first look.

“A little bit obsessed with paranormal stuff, aren’t we Theo?” his boss once commented when she was walking past his desk. 

“Not really,” Theo said like he didn’t have eight books piled up, waiting to be read, on the same topic.

“If you say so son,” the old lady walked away to her office, shaking her head and Theo heard her muttering something along the lines of  _ youths these days. _

 

On Fridays Theo only worked until 2pm because the library closed early. He couldn’t wait to just get home and do nothing because somehow ever since he found out about Liam’s… state of being, he hadn’t gotten much sleep and he was tense all the time. He prayed that this weekend he could at least manage to rest a bit more.

When he made his way inside of his apartment, he saw that Liam was nowhere to be found. Usually he was hovering around the living room or the kitchen. Theo frowned but made his way to his bedroom, looking around the room but it was empty. 

“Liam?” he called out but there was no answer. A sense of fear started pooling around his stomach, his heartbeat spiking. His mind started to spiral, coming to some of the worst conclusions, and he tried to snap out of it.

What if he had run out of time and failed to figure out what was happening to Liam? What if Liam went to hell and now he was stuck there just like Theo had been? What if Theo’s mind had made everything up after all?

Theo’s hands were cold to the touch - his whole body was, as a matter of fact. He hadn’t been this afraid and feeling this… guilt since that time Tara had been ripping his heart out of his chest. He couldn’t afford to call anyone because nobody would believe him, or worse, nobody would help him. His mind turning, turning, _ turning _ , he was losing it. 

He was becoming too anxious, he was almost considering the summoning a demon thing he saw on a webpage, just if it meant that somehow he could talk to-

_ Liam, _ who had just walked straight through the door, a panicked expression on his face.

“Theo!” Liam screamed, snapping his fingers (more like mimicking the action of) in front of the chimera’s face. That made Theo snap out of whatever trance he was in. “You there?”

Theo looked up at him, not daring to speak because he knew his voice would sound choked up and Liam was not really used to seeing him like that. 

“Are you okay?” Liam said in a calmer tone after he saw how incredibly tense Theo looked.

“Yeah, yeah, what’s up?” Theo said, a bit calmer, swallowing all the fear that had clouded him moments ago like it was nothing.

“They’re doing a garage sale!” Liam exclaimed like it was the most outrageous thing he had ever witnessed in his life.

“What did garage sales ever do to hurt you?” Theo returned to his old snarky self, because that was just normal for him.

“My parents are doing a garage sale. They’re getting rid of all of my stuff, you idiot!” Liam said like that explained everything.

“You’re dead and can’t touch anything, does it matter?” Theo shrugged. Liam looked beyond pissed, and Theo was 100% sure if he could he would punch him just for saying that.

“Fine, thanks for not caring, asshole,” Liam muttered in an angry tone and he was making his way to the door to leave when Theo stopped him.

“Wait,” Theo said and sighed, pulling his wallet out. He had $183 in cash to spare, those were whatever little savings he had been keeping in case he ever needed anything as an emergency. “I can pitch in some money to buy something, I guess.”

When Theo said that, Liam’s expression suddenly brightened up like a kid on Christmas day. Something inside of Theo’s heart warmed at the sight, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

 

When they arrived at Liam’s house an hour later Theo saw why Liam had freaked out, and it was because when Liam said  _ ‘they’re selling everything’ _ he wasn’t exaggerating. 

Liam was cringing by his side, seeing how strangers got to take home things he had grown attached to his entire life. Theo couldn’t relate, since he didn’t have a lot of personal belongings, and what he had could easily be replaced if it went missing. But he saw that it was bugging Liam, so even if he didn’t understand it, he was going to help him.

“This console is the one I wanted mom!” a kid that was barely 10 years old exclaimed to his mom, and Liam widened his eyes in horror. 

“Keep your hands off my console, you little shit!” if Liam could walk, he would surely be stomping his way towards the kid. Theo followed him, making his way to the front and grabbing the video game console before the kid could.

“Sorry kid, look for something more suitable to your age,” Theo smugly said, and the kid looked like he was about to burst into tears. The mom glared at Theo, muttering something along the lines of  _ ‘how rude’ _ as she got the kid to walk away. Liam, on the other hand, was grinning like he just won a fight for a big TV screen on a Black Friday sale.

“Yeah that’s right, walk away bitch!” Liam called out as if the kid was going to hear him, making Theo roll his eyes.

“Would you calm down for fu-” Theo was interrupted before he could finish his sentence by none other than Liam’s mom. He surely got startled enough like he had seen yet another ghost.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Do I… know you from somewhere?” Mrs. Geyer asked, and even though she tried to keep a polite smile, the pain of losing a loved one was present in her face.

“Yeah, I was, uh, Liam’s friend,” he still wasn’t used to saying that, not now, not ever. “Theo.”

“Oh yes! Theo, I remember now. Liam used to talk about you sometimes,” Mrs. Geyer said and Liam seemed so embarrassed he wanted his mom to stop talking right there and then. 

“I  _ might’ve  _ mentioned you once or twice, but I didn’t talk about you all the time,” Liam corrected as if justifying himself. 

“He talked about how you were homeless and he tried to convince us to let you stay with us for a while, but that same day we agreed he found out you had moved to an apartment away from this town. He was pretty disappointed,” Mrs. Geyer related like the memory had been days ago instead of months.

_ “He did?” _ Theo replied in shock because that had taken him by surprise, but instead of surprised he had sounded like he was being sarcastic. Liam wished he could just vanish into thin air right there and then.

“That’s just- she’s exaggerating, I- you know what?  _ Nevermind, _ ” Liam stumbled over words then left to see what else people were taking away, leaving Theo holding on to the video game console in his hands.

“Yeah, he did. He always worried about his friends a lot, who would’ve thought that he’d…” she trailed off, not finishing the thought. Theo cleared his throat a bit, ready to change the topic.

“Mrs. Geyer, how much does this cost?” Theo was already pulling out his wallet, silently hoping it’d be somewhere along his budget. 

“He loved that so much, you know? I’m sure that if he were here he’d get angry if anyone else bought it,” Mrs. Geyer replied.

“You have no idea,” Theo chuckled at the irony because if only she knew…

“You can keep it for free. I’m sure he would’ve liked you to have it. Maternal instinct,” she mustered up a warm smile for Theo, and the chimera felt so sorry for the poor woman. She had gotten her only child taken away from her yet she remained as positive as one can be under the circumstances. 

“I don’t really know what to say, Mrs. Geyer,” Theo said afterwards.

“There are some video games in that box that work for that console, if you want to look around,” Mrs. Geyer said and turned to leave to greet some other people that were arriving to buy other stuff. 

Liam came back shortly after she left, he had already forgotten his embarrassment because he was too busy complaining about the garage sale and how he just witnessed little kids buying his entire Star Wars collection.

 

Theo arrived home two hours later with a video game console, a box filled with Liam’s favorite video games (Theo couldn’t pay for them all so he made Liam choose, and it took them 30 minutes and people looking at him weirdly to finally come to a decision on which to keep and which to leave), a lacrosse stick (even though he never had played the damn sport in his life), and a box filled with History books (because Liam looked like he would  _ kill _ for them if he could). His wallet only suffered the loss of $100.

Liam’s mom had insisted that Theo should take everything for free even after the chimera offered to pay for it, and he was sort of okay with just agreeing with her and taking home the things he was most likely not going to use, but Liam had insisted that he should give his parents money to ‘help them’.

Theo ended up giving the hundred bucks to Mrs. Geyer despite her saying that ‘it was fine’. She ended up giving in after a while, but not before giving Theo an open invitation to come around and join them for dinner anytime he wanted.

He was going to punch Liam one day for putting him in that position.

“You know, the lacrosse stick could come in handy one day. If someone ever tries to break in, you can hit them with it,” Liam said after Theo finished bringing everything into the apartment.

“Or I can just slash their faces with my claws, you know, chimera abilities and all,” Theo got his claws out as to prove his point, making Liam roll his eyes.

“Why do you always have to be so violent?” Liam huffed.

“Because hitting someone with a lacrosse stick is not being violent at all?”

“It’s  _ less  _ violent.”

“If you say so, Liam.”

 

The rest of the evening consisted on Theo hooking up the console to his TV and learning how to play video games. He had missed out on this and to Liam’s horrified surprise, Theo had never played a single video game in his life.

Liam insisted he played Call of Duty first, he promised to teach Theo everything he needed to know to play it.

“You’ll be the hands and I’ll be the mastermind behind every move,” Liam said excitedly like he was planning the biggest crime in history.

“You  _ do _ realize how  _ that _ made you sound, right?” Theo exclaimed as he set up a new profile in the game because Liam couldn’t have him ruining his perfect streak he had worked so hard to obtain.

“Whatever, after a few hours you’ll see what I’m talking about,” Liam shrugged it off, not peeling his eyes from the screen.

And indeed a few hours later they were still going at it, the game was too high pressure for either of them to quit it. Theo sucked at the beginning. He kept getting killed within seconds, making Liam go from laughing to groaning.

“Can’t believe you’ve killed I don’t know how many people in real life yet you can’t kill one goddamn person in the game,” Liam scoffed.

“It’s not like I can use my hands to do it, I’ve never used a gun before and it’s definitely not the same,” Theo fought back, still focused on not getting killed for the sixteenth time.

“You can stab them, use the knife,” Liam commanded, looking at the map on the right bottom part of the screen. “Quick, another enemy is approaching!”

“Where?!” Theo yelled out because he was still trying to run away from another enemy.

“Your left side. Stab him!” Liam yelled.

“I don’t know how to!” Theo yelled back because it was too much pressure, he already had two people trying to shoot him.

“Stab him! Oh for the love of-” Liam inched closer to Theo and tried to grab the hand that was holding the controller, but it went straight through. The attempted touch had sent a cold spark running through Theo’s arm like he had been electrocuted. He dropped the controller to the floor  when it happened, his character getting killed in the game, but it didn’t really matter to him.

Both boys had been so caught up in the game that for a moment they forgot the fact that Liam was not really alive, and the (lack of) touch had brought them back to reality. Liam was disappointed that he still wasn’t able to touch anything, and Theo was trying to compose himself from the electric shock he had felt.

He looked anywhere but Liam, deciding to glance at the clock instead.

“I, uh, I should sleep. It’s been a long day, and it’s really late so…” Theo awkwardly say, scratching his neck, still not looking at Liam.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You, um, do your thing,” Liam nodded.

Theo turned off the console and switched it back to the TV programming, leaving it on a channel where they were showing old movie re-runs so Liam could watch while Theo slept. 

He didn’t sleep much that night though. The spark still ghosting over Theo’s arm like it wouldn’t leave him alone. He held his arm close to his heart that night as he was falling asleep, part of him wishing he hadn’t pulled away too soon, craving the touch.

He felt for sure he was losing his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The flour thing I remember I saw it once happening in a cartoon and since I began writing the fic I knew I had to write Theo trying it whoops.
> 
> Also yes Theo's feelings are beginning to show more and more, and like I said this isn't one-sided at all, as you saw how Mrs. Geyer hinted at Liam caring but denying it so... stay tuned for next chapter :D
> 
> -Alejandra


	4. Fragile things shatter easily

“I’m done with this book, can you bring me another?” Liam told Theo and the chimera sighed, closing the book that was on the desk and walking towards the stacks of unshelved books to put it there and then grab yet another History book.

It has been a month now since the day Liam showed up in Theo’s apartment. On that timeframe, they had become inseparable, much to the chimera’s surprise. Liam pretty much followed him everywhere since he had nothing else to do.

One time Liam followed him to the supermarket without his knowledge and he scared the living shit out of Theo. The older boy had left to buy some food since he had gotten his paycheck, and he was strolling down the aisles with his shopping cart, when all of a sudden Liam appeared at his side.

“At least buy some decent food, do you wanna die this quick?” Liam said near Theo’s ear as the chimera was grabbing some instant ramen packages. He ended up yelling in surprise and dropped the packages he had been holding, also managing to throw to the floor some other packages that were in the shelves. 

“What are you, my mother?!” Theo half-yelled at Liam, but he got an offended glare coming from a lady in her 40’s that was on the other side of the aisle. He muttered an apology to her, but she just left, still judging him.

“If you want noodles just cook some from scratch,” Liam said.

“As if I have the time. If you don’t want me to take the ramen, try and take it from my hands. Oh that’s right, you  _ can’t, _ ” Theo smugly smirked as he grabbed the packages again.

Liam held his breath in anger, his glare was focused on the ramen packages like they had deeply offended him. Next thing he knows, the packages went flying far away from Theo’s hands into the floor past the aisle.

“Oh shit,” Liam muttered once he realized what he had done. 

Theo turned around to look at him in surprise, he had a lot of questions that he didn’t know where to begin with.

“If you dare to pick up yet another ramen bag I won’t hesitate to throw it away again,” Liam said never breaking eye contact. He still didn’t know how he managed to do that, but he wasn’t going to hesitate to try it again.

That day Theo ended up buying semi-healthier food - at least it was a definite improvement from sandwiches, ramen and chips. Nonetheless, it cost Theo more money, but he went along with it before Liam wrecked havoc in the store.

  
Most recently Liam followed him to work, though.

Theo had always told Liam that  _ no,  _ he wouldn’t take him to work (and even though Liam could basically just follow him and go straight through the closed doors he didn’t do it, to give Theo space), but after the garage sale day Theo was afraid that at any moment his ghost friend could end up disappearing and he wouldn’t know, so next time Liam asked him if he could join him at work, Theo said yes.

It’s been weeks since that day, and on some days Theo regretted it. One of those days being today, since it was Thursday and it had been a busy season at the library. He wanted to rest, he wanted his own space, he  _ missed _ time for himself, but on the other hand he liked Liam’s company. 

He didn’t like many people, but if he had a choice on who he would pick to spend time with, he’d pick Liam. 

Short tempered, quick-witted, frustratingly smart Liam. 

“Here, I figured a thousand pages will keep your mouth shut for the rest of the day,” Theo dropped the hardcover book on the side of his desk, opening it up on the first page to let Liam read on his own.

During that time they also discovered that Liam could use air to move things - light things, such as to flip the pages of a book, or ruffle people’s hair, move curtains, as if the wind had blown by in that direction. He just needed to focus on it and he could do it. That’s how he ended up reading History books at Theo’s job, and Liam was beyond happy.

He’d bury himself in the book (figuratively, since he couldn’t hold it in his hands) and his expression would always be deep in thought. Sometimes he only spoke to give Theo curious facts, which Theo pretended like he was half-listening to them, but secretly he liked when Liam did that.

He had always found it interesting whenever Liam started talking passionately about history, and now the ghost guy seemed to be a walking encyclopedia. 

“I don’t talk  _ that _ much,” Liam muttered, and if he was still a werewolf he was pretty sure he would’ve growled lowly at Theo.

“I’m the one who has to listen to you talk so you don’t have a say in it,” Theo snapped back but there was no heat behind his words, this was the way they were with each other. But it wasn’t normal to other people, and talking to yourself wasn’t normal either, because as soon as he finished his sentence he heard someone clearing their throat in front of his desk.

“Do you normally talk to yourself all the time?” the girl chuckled but instead of weirded out she seemed genuinely curious.

“I was talking on the phone actually. Bluetooth helps a lot-  hey Hank I’m gonna have to call you later,” Theo lied and put a hand on his ear to pretend that he was hanging up from the call that never happened in the first place. Liam snorted in his place, not bothering to look up from where he was reading.

The girl handed Theo some books so he could stamp them as received, and in that moment Liam made the mistake of looking up and  _ oh. _

“You realize that’s the girl that’s been sending you smiles like she has a crush on you, right?” Liam commented but Theo ignored him, continuing writing down the book’s information on his log list.

“Okay Michelle, books are marked as returned. Anything else I can help you with?” Theo gave his polite smile that sometimes came across as flirtatious and Liam grinned at his obliviousness. 

“Yeah, do you have any plans tonight?”

_ Shit.  _ Liam’s grin dropped faster than his average in calculus in high school after hearing the girl ask that, and even more after seeing Theo’s surprised reaction.

“Uh, nothing really?” the answer came out as a question as if Theo wasn’t even sure himself.

_ “What the hell are you doing?” _ Liam whispered like he was going to be heard by the girl if he talked any louder. “You do realize she’s asking you out on a date right?”

“You seem like a really nice guy, and I know this must sound weird to you, but, I was wondering if maybe… I don’t know, would you like to hang out?” she asked awkwardly, struggling to find the right words.

“Sure?” Theo said tentatively, still looking more confused than whatnot. Liam was looking back and forth between them, his eyes wide as if waiting for the chimera to go back on his words. He didn’t.

“Cool!” Michelle said a little bit too eager, then she seemed to realize this so she calmed down her excitement. “So um, where would you like to go?”

This seemed like a complete trainwreck.  _ Michelle _ (Liam always pronounced her name with too much emphasis like he hated it) was completely nervous and awkward, and then on the other hand Theo seemed too emotionally stunned to say or do anything except to give short answers that sounded more like questions. Liam wanted to punch both of them in the face.

“I’m more of a home-cooked meal kind of guy,” Theo replied, thinking back on how expensive takeout food is and he couldn’t really afford to pay anything too expensive right now.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Michelle seemed taken aback for a moment but she recovered quickly. “So your place then?”

“Yeah,”  _ I guess?  _ seemed like what Theo wanted to say but didn’t. Liam wanted to shake him desperately and make him see that this date was going to be a disaster.

“Good, then text me your address and I’ll meet you at 8?” she asked, sliding a note on his desk and smiled shyly.

“Sure,” Theo replied, taking the little note with her number written on it. Michelle waved goodbye and left the library, and as soon as Theo turned to look at Liam he was met with a shocked yet worried look.

“What were you thinking?!” Liam wanted to smack him, badly, but he settled for throwing air and making Theo’s hair ruffle a little with the wind.

That’s the issue. He wasn’t, really. Maybe it was because he had been a bit oblivious even after Liam pointed it out, or maybe it was because he was too tired because it’s been a long week, Theo wasn’t sure.

“It’s just food Liam,” Theo shrugged. 

“Fine, I won’t say anything. Just remember that if she turns out to be a hunter, _ these _ hands won’t be able to hold her back when she tries to stab you with a knife,” Liam huffed and got up, making his way to look at the stacks of books, far away from Theo’s desk.

 

It wasn’t that Liam didn’t trust the girl, no. There was something about her that irked him and made him want to pick a petty fight. And staring at her from Theo’s room where he was trying to spy on the date didn’t make it better.

Being a ghost meant he had lost his enhanced hearing, and even if it was a small apartment, he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

So he decided to come out of Theo’s room and he moved to the couch casually.

“I gotta admit, this is some really good pasta,” she complimented the food that Theo had prepared in a rush after he had been pestered by Liam with  _ ‘if you give her one of your godawful sandwiches she’ll throw it in your face’ _ , so he had looked up how to cook something semi-decent and cheap and ended up with this.

“Wow, you’re such a conversationalist,” Liam rolled his eyes at Theo’s lack of reply, which made the chimera choke on his food because he thought Liam was still in his room rather than eavesdropping on his date. 

He managed to say a choked up  _ ‘thanks’ _ as a late response, and Michelle seemed more than happy.

They talked and talked for a while, Liam listening on all of it. She asked him what his hobbies were, what he was studying, what he liked to listen to… Liam was mostly sure that half of Theo’s answers were made up, constantly snorting because he knew better and called bullshit where he heard it.

Liam’s temper was being tested as she continued to overstay her welcome in his opinion. He got lost in his thoughts on how he wanted her to leave that he fixated his stare on an empty glass that was set nearby the table. To everyone’s shock, he ended up moving it and it ended up falling and shattering on the floor.

“Woah, what just happened,” Michelle was startled, looking down and checking her legs for possible cuts from the glass that shattered.

“It must’ve been too close to the edge,” Theo said while shooting a glare in Liam’s direction, who was too shocked at his newly found powers to reply. One thing was making ramen packages fly away and another thing was moving semi-heavy objects.

“It’s like a ghost came by and dropped it,” Michelle chuckled nervously.

Liam let out a mocking laugh like he couldn’t believe the irony of her words.

“Yeah. It’s probably the ghost of the bitter old lady that used to live here before I moved in,” Theo joked, knowing it’ll get to Liam, and indeed it did, since he was currently fuming in his seat.

“Keep talking like that and this bitter old lady is going to smack you in the head,” Liam threatened and it made Theo laugh out loud too, gaining a confused look from Michelle. 

“Sorry, it reminded me of another joke,” Theo said, trying to calm down his laughter.

“Ghosts are not a good thing to joke about,” Michelle said in a somewhat more serious tone.

“What? You believe in ghosts?”

“Not exactly. I have an aunt that does believe in them, but after hearing all of her stories I prefer to not joke around with any ghost-related stuff in case it turns out to be true, you know?”

“And what did your aunt say… about ghosts, I mean?” Theo said in a lower tone.

“There’s all kinds of them. There’s the evil spirits, here to haunt you and make your life a living hell without you even knowing about them. There’s another kind, the ones with unfinished business, their life ended so soon that they got another limited chance to do what they were intended to do when they were alive before they leave.”

Liam was now standing behind Michelle’s seat, and Theo looked up to meet his gaze. Liam being an evil spirit was crossed off since the beginning because the boy wouldn’t even hurt a fly despite his anger issues. The other kind though…

“And did your aunt talk about any way to, _ hypothetically, _ bring a ghost back to life?” Theo curiously asked.

“Not that I remember. Why? You wanna bring the old bitter lady back to life?” Michelle changed her tone to playful again, making Liam roll his eyes and throw his hands in the air dramatically.

Theo snorted. “No, ghosts… ghosts aren’t real.”

He sighed while looking at Liam, who had his back turned on the couple to stare out the window. 

Michelle kept talking and talking but Theo wasn’t really paying much attention, instead he kept looking at Liam with… sadness in his eyes, because even though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, especially not to Liam, he’d do anything to bring him back to life.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard fingers snapping in front of his eyes. 

“You alright? You do look like you just saw a ghost right now,” Michelle said, looking at him with worried eyes. Liam turned around and looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s been a long day, though,” Theo waved it off before she started asking more questions.

“Oh, of course. I should get going, it was a lovely dinner Theo,” she got up and grabbed her purse, and Theo walked her to the door. They stood there for a while, Michelle didn’t seem to want to leave just yet, looking at Theo with that flirtatious smile that Liam despised so much.

“We should do this again sometime,” she said and Theo just smiled, didn’t reply at all with the intention to not give her any kind of hopes because… if he was being honest, he wasn’t really interested.

However, Michelle looked down at Theo’s lips and she started to get closer, and Theo didn’t really move. Their lips were so close to meeting when the lightbulb that was near the living room popped, leaving them in the dark with no light.

Michelle laughed and moved away. She opened the door and the moonlight fully illuminated the dark room for a moment.

“That old lady must really hate me,” she joked and Liam silently agreed with that statement.

“Goodnight,” Theo said and after a minute, Michelle finally left. He made sure she was out of hearing range before turning to snap at Liam.

“Did you  _ really _ had to cost me a glass and a lightbulb?” Theo glared at him.

They remained standing where they were, both in opposite sides of the room. Moonlight kept coming in from the window, shining differently on both of them. 

Liam got lost staring at Theo, the moonlight shone in his face in a way that made him more… alluring? Attractive?  _ Something?! _

There was something hypnotizing about it, everything was dark, they were the same, but Liam swore that  _ that _ was the moment he started looking at Theo differently. Started to  _ appreciate him in a different light, _ as corny as that sounded.

He wanted to reach and touch Theo’s face, examine his features carefully, run his fingers down his cheek, carefully like he was going to break, he wanted to-

“You know, the moonlight is making you look more like Casper now,” Theo blurted out, making Liam snap out of his own trance. When his brain caught up with the chimera’s words, he sighed, the spell suddenly broken.

Of course Theo was still the same asshole he knew, no amount of light was going to change that.

“I still hate you sometimes,” Liam replied, going back to Theo’s room, leaving the chimera smirking behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was originally supposed to be a scene with more action, but I, a known lover of Slow Burn, decided to push it back for a couple more chapters because they're not there yet, if you get me.
> 
> Also Michelle is not going to appear again really, I despise love triangles as much as Liam despises her, but I needed to introduce her because that scene had some key plot points (2), that's all I'm gonna say.
> 
> Anyways, any questions you wanna ask hit me up @ laheyjackson on tumblr!  
> -Alejandra


	5. Borrowed time

“So I can see ghosts now, that’s it,” Theo blurted out coldly, his eyes fixated on the ceiling of his room.

“You haven’t seen another ghost, quit being a pessimist,” Liam rolled his eyes.

“That I’m aware of. People around could be a ghost and how would I be able to tell? Should I go around punching people, see if my hand goes right through them to make sure?” 

“Stop it. We don’t really know if what Michelle said is true or not,” Liam moved to lie down next to Theo on the bed since the chimera wasn’t moving at all.

“Unfinished business,” Theo snorted bitterly, slightly changing the topic.

“Why do you believe  _ that _ all of a sudden?  You refuse to believe anything on the Internet but a girl walks in and tries to flirt with you and suddenly you believe everything she says?” Liam’s tone was getting bitter as he kept speaking, making Theo snap out of his thoughts and move his head to the side to be looking into Liam’s eyes.

“It sounds more plausible than other stuff I’ve read…” Theo trailed off like he was going to say something else but stopped himself before he did. 

“And?”

Theo sighed in defeat.

“And it would make sense, since sometimes I still see Tara when I’m sleeping.”

“That’s- that’s completely different! Look I hate science, but you seeing your dead sister haunting you in your nightmares isn’t because some supernatural shit happened, it’s because you have PTSD from when you were in hell and your brain keeps bringing the memory back. That doesn’t mean you see evil ghosts.”

“So why can I see you?” Theo persisted, not breaking eye contact with Liam. He didn’t seem angry, he just seemed… tired.

“I… don’t know. Take it as something with a one in a million chance of happening,” Liam said, making Theo smirk slowly.

“So you’re calling yourself special? You know how conceited you just sounded?” Theo’s smirk turned into a full grin when Liam glared at him, but in the end he couldn’t help but smile too.

And just like that they fell into a deep but peaceful silence. They kept staring at each other, neither of them wanting to say anything, but slowly Theo felt like he was breathing less and less, his heart quickening for whatever reason, and he had to look away before he passed out.

“What are you doing?” Theo asked after he regained his composure, thinking it might have been one of Liam’s ghostly superpowers.

“What do you mean? I wasn’t doing anything,” Liam frowned, looking genuinely confused.

It hadn’t been one of Liam’s superpowers that had done that to Theo, but unbeknownst to the chimera, that’s how people feel when they were overwhelmed with their feelings for someone. 

“Forget it, it’s nothing,” Theo waved it off and turned to face the wall, turning his back on Liam. “Goodnight.”

“Sleep well Theo,” Liam said with a sigh after a few minutes, because he  _ knew _ the chimera still had nightmares, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it. He couldn’t shake him awake, he couldn’t hold his hand and reassure him everything was okay (not like Theo would’ve let him if he could, he probably would’ve snapped at him if he even tried it), he could just… lie there and watch, and hope that Theo’s mind will go easy on him this night.

 

“I hear a couple of heartbeats.”

Theo snapped his eyes open only to find himself inside of an elevator. Not just any elevator, but the Beacon Hills hospital elevator. The lights were flickering intensely, fading in and out, following the sound of heartbeats.

Heartbeats.

Too many heartbeats to count, it made him confused. It was too loud.

He could hear a high pitched screech of feedback from a microphone. Theo immediately brought his hands to cover his ears, trying to focus on breathing in and out.

_ Focus. Focus on one heartbeat, focus on… _

Liam. 

The sound of claws being let out echoed in his ears this time, and he opened his eyes to see the boy in front of him getting ready for a fight.

“Liam don’t-” Theo grabbed Liam’s wrist as instinct and paused after he realized the contact. Theo could touch Liam. He didn’t let go of the werewolf’s wrist, instead he kept eye contact with him. He could get easily lost in those deep grey eyes if he’d let him, if only he had more time…

_ Time. _

“Don’t what?” Liam snapped him out of his thoughts, and his tone wasn’t angry, but more confused and desperate to go and fight whomever was outside that door.

“Don’t…” 

_ Don’t what? Don’t go? Don’t fight? Don’t… die?  _

“Let’s just get out of here. Forget the fight, forget  _ this, _ let’s just leave while we can,” Theo pleaded, his voice sounded worried and in a hurry, like this was his only chance to save Liam.

“Easy for you to say, but I can’t,” Liam said in a soft tone, and if it wasn’t for the enhanced hearing Theo wouldn’t have been able to hear it.

“What do you mean you can’t? Why can’t you leave?” Theo wanted to scream, to shake him until he realized this was  _ dangerous, _ that no matter how many hunters they fought more would come later, they needed to  _ run. _

“Because I’m dead?” Theo let go of Liam’s wrist the moment those words came out of the werewolf’s mouth. Instead he looked down slowly and watched as six gunshot wounds started to bleed out on the younger boy’s chest. 

Theo’s expression was one of mixed shock and fear, his eyes widening and pleading with unshed tears that this wasn’t real. He looked up to meet Liam’s eyes for one last time, the werewolf looking back at him with resignation in his eyes.

And in a flicker of the lights, Liam was gone, no trace of blood or any sign that he was even there. 

Only Theo stood there in the alluring darkness and possible death coming up next behind those elevator doors.

 

Theo snapped his eyes open, gasping for air as if he couldn’t breathe. After a few seconds he became aware of his surroundings: he was on his bed, in his apartment. He was alive.

He wiped some of the sweat from his forehead then looked down at the mess of ripped sheets, moonlight still sneaking inside of his room from the window. The clock read 3:06AM, meaning he still had three hours of sleep before he was supposed to wake up. 

“You had another nightmare,” Liam suddenly appeared on his room and Theo moved his neck a little bit too fast to look at him that he might have pulled a nerve.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Theo went back to one of his coping mechanisms when he didn’t want to talk about something: sarcasm.

“I went to the kitchen to see if I could, uh, lift a glass and bring it over but I just shattered the other two spare glasses you had so…” Liam looked down, a bit embarrassed at the fact that he had left Theo without glasses.

Despite that it was going to cost Theo money to replace them, money he didn’t have, he couldn’t bring himself to care right now. Or to even be mad at Liam. No, he couldn’t be mad at Liam. Even though at this rate he was going to be the reason why cobwebs start forming in his wallet.

 

It took Theo a week to replace all the items that Liam had managed to shatter. Thankfully there weren’t any more losses afterwards, but it still had left him with less money for food or for his so called ‘savings’.

He hasn’t had another different nightmare after the elevator one. The next night he went back to the nightmares of his sister haunting him in the hospital, but at least he was used to that. 

He never told Liam about it, he refused because he didn’t want to worry him at all.

Work has slowed down a bit now since people were done with finals and there weren’t as many procrastinating students looking desperately for books to help with their research papers. Now there were only the usual loyal customers that read books because they wanted to.

Theo had a stack of books he found he hadn’t read about ghost mythology and he buried himself into reading, while Liam was trying to see if he could lift a bag of chips, but judging by the mess on the floor, he couldn’t.

“You’re gonna have to find a way to clean that mess because there’s no way I’ll clean that up for you,” Theo commented, not taking his eyes off of the paragraph he was reading. 

Liam focused both hands into trying to lift the stray chips that had fallen to the floor, but he ended up using wind, managing to move the chips to Theo’s side so now his feet were covered in them,

Theo slammed his book close and was about to shoot a death glare to Liam when he caught the scent of someone familiar standing in front of his desk.

“I take it you’re still wondering if ghosts are real,” the voice belonged to none other than Lydia Martin.

“I’m not-” Theo took a side glance at the books right next to him, then to Liam. He sighed deeply, giving up and returned to look at Lydia. “What are you doing here?”

“Reading never hurt anybody,” Lydia said with a small smirk, which meant that she wasn’t just here for the books.

“Where’s Stiles?” Theo looked to the exit to try and see the familiar jeep, because if the pack was there then…

“It’s just me. Look, about your ghost question, I-” Theo cut her in the middle of the sentence because a queue started forming and his boss was glaring at him from her office.

“I have a lunch break in fifteen minutes, then we can talk,” he checked out her books then handed them to her. She nodded reluctantly and waited until he was finished with his shift at the library. 

Talking to other members of the McCall pack was hard for Theo, because he was well aware none of them trusted him and it had him on edge always. Liam had been the only exception, but he was different than the others. Always different.

 

Once his shift was over, he motioned her to follow him into the coffee shop next door so they could talk, Liam followed along. Lydia noticed how Theo picked a table that had three chairs, but she didn’t comment on it. She decided to leave it empty instead of putting her purse and coat on it, eyeing Theo knowingly.

“You were saying?” Theo said after some awkward minutes of silence. All three of them were as uncomfortable as it gets, Liam biting his lip nervously, waiting for the information Lydia would say.

“I… kinda asked around after you asked me if ghosts exist and turned up with something,” Lydia began as she took a sip of her coffee.

“So you’re saying ghosts are real?” Theo held his breath as he awaited validation that he wasn’t the only one seeing things.

“It’s not a hundred percent proven,” Theo sighed in defeat but his eyes sparked up when Lydia continued talking. “But there is a theory and I reached out to an old friend to confirm it and he has seen a ghost.”

“I’m listening,” Theo motioned for her to continue.

“There was this friend of ours, she um- she died. After her tragic death, this guy started being haunted by her ghost. Not in a bad way, in a good way actually. He told me that she was there with him all the time, she always kept him company, and when he was in danger, she’d help him- she was a hunter, so she kind of trained him on self-defense and was like a second pair of eyes on the battlefield,” Lydia smiled fondly as she was telling the story.

“Can you see her ghost?” Theo asked, side-glancing at Liam briefly.

“I can’t, sadly. The theory here is that you need to have a kind of emotional tether strong enough to see that person after they die,” Lydia explained.

In that moment, Theo froze and tried his hardest not to look at Liam, who also looked like a mix of embarrassment and curiosity at the same time.

“Emotional  _ what? _ ” Theo crossed his arms and frowned, doing his best to ignore the warm, weird feeling crawling up in his chest.

“Emotional tether. It’s a connection you share with someone, especially if they were strong enough to pull you back. In this case, I take it that bringing you back from hell was enough for that connection to be born.”

Theo feigned indifference, still not wanting to admit to Lydia that he was seeing Liam. He was ready to begin denying when Lydia stopped him.

“Cut the crap Theo, we both know which ghost you’ve been seeing,” Lydia said taking yet another sip of her coffee, and she had that  _ ‘I know everything’  _ look in her eye that sometimes did scare the chimera.

After she said that, Liam bolted, making his way through the glass doors of the coffee shop so he wouldn’t have to listen to the rest of the conversation, standing right outside of the library. Theo took a deep breath then let it out, relaxing a bit.

“So what happened with the guy?” Theo asked, changing the topic to something that didn’t involve connections or emotions.

“He stopped seeing her ghost after a while, didn’t really know what happened,” Lydia sadly said.

“What do you mean stopped seeing her? He didn’t bring her back to life?” Fear started bubbling up in Theo’s chest, because  _ this  _ was the one thing he had been fearing. This is exactly what he was trying to prevent with all the stupid research, he didn’t want his time to run out before he figured out how to bring Liam back to life.

“He didn’t-”

“Why didn’t he?”

“Because there is no right way to bring a ghost back to life that we know of. You try to bring something from the dead and it has consequences that we’re not ready to deal with.”

“Liam brought me back and nothing bad happened,” Theo said defensively.

“He just reversed what was done to you. How are you going to reverse the six bullet holes in his body so he can be alive again?” Lydia questioned and Theo was mad that he didn’t have an answer yet.

“How long?” Theo asked.

“What?” Lydia asked, confused.

“How long before the ghost disappears?” Theo was calculating already how much time has passed, ready to see how much time he had left.

“He saw her for more or less than a year, give or take. Look, when she left, he had already found peace and balance in his life so it wasn’t that hard to let go. She was kinda like a guardian angel to him, but as much as it pains me to say it, she was never meant to be brought back to life again.”

Theo thought the opposite. He had seen so much supernatural shit in his 19 years of age to just give up because there was apparently nothing else to do.

“Okay,” Theo said, gathering his jacket and getting up from his seat. “I have to get back to work.”

He was starting to walk towards the exit when he heard Lydia’s words and froze in place.

“It’s okay, you know. To admit you care for him and that that’s the reason why you’re seeing him.”

“I don’t-” he cursed himself internally, and he was cut off yet again by Lydia, who knew better than to listen to his bullshit lies.

“Just enjoy whatever time you have left with him before he disappears,” she got up from her seat, gathered her things, and passed by Theo to exit the coffee shop. The chimera still remained frozen in place, his fists clenching and unclenching.

Of course he cared for Liam. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be doing any of this shit in the first place. 

He smiled as he watched Liam mess with this guy giving political propaganda, making his flyers fly away into the air then watching as he struggled to pick them up. His smile faded as he remembered the part where Liam’s time was limited, and he wished for time to be on his side for once in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of humor in this chapter, it was kinda hard to crack dark humor jokes here when plot had to happen. 
> 
> Now with that said it is finally established why Theo sees Liam! When I first began writing this fic I always thought the only logical explanation was that they shared a connection since Liam brought him back from the dead.
> 
> And the guy and girl Lydia is talking about is of course Isaac and Allison. I did think of putting Scott seeing Allison's ghost, but because I wanted to ~follow~ the whole emotional tether route, I went with the pairings from that episode to not cause loopholes or confusion. And if Lydia saw Allison, then it was just fair that Mason saw Liam, and if Scott saw Allison, then it was fair that Hayden would see Liam, so to stop that I just went with Isaac, sorry folks.
> 
> Anyways next chapter will be light hearted don't worry, no more angst!!  
> -Alejandra


	6. Bucket list cancelled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what I'm alive!!! I'm SO sorry for not updating in technically a month (since last year I'm the worst), but I wasn't in a great place to write that much humor and I didn't want this to turn out sad and angsty, so that's why I waited.
> 
> BUT ANYWAYS I'm back and here it is, I have a planned outline for the next three chapters so it should just be a matter of when school and work will let me :D
> 
> Thank you for your comments and all your support, it made me really happy hearing from people that wanted this fic to update, it really made my heart happy!

“Liam!” Theo whisper-yelled and it startled both Liam and the guy picking up his flyers. 

“What?” Liam just shrugged. Theo rolled his eyes and started walking down the sidewalk, Liam followed him promptly. “What else did Lydia say after I left?”

“Nothing useful, they haven’t found a way to bring a ghost back to life,” Theo said, not telling Liam about the part where in a couple of months he’ll end up disappearing if he didn’t hurry to find a solution.

“Oh,” Liam looked a bit disappointed with the news but it was quickly gone. “I’m sure we’ll find something, if not then I guess you’re not  _ that _ bad of a company to spend the rest of eternity with.”

“What are we? Married?” Theo joked but his heart was feeling warm once again, he couldn’t help the feeling.

“I take back what I said. Where are we going?” Liam asked after Theo began to pick up the pace.

“We are going to a raffle,” Theo said as he got some red numbered tickets out and walked inside of what seemed to be a parking lot where several people were gathered to listen to someone that had a container filled with little white papers.

“You come here often?” Liam asked, because he hadn’t seen Theo come to one of these ever since he began living with him.

“Once a month they host these things. My boss bought too many raffle tickets so she gave half of them to me,” Theo was keeping a close eye on the container filled with the winning numbers, making sure no one cheated or anything.

“And have you won anything?” 

“Not yet,” Theo was shushed by a lady that looked like she was in her 50’s, the chimera just glaring back at her because he didn’t appreciate being shushed. And it’s not like he was talking  _ that  _ loud.

In the blink of an eye, Liam was gone and Theo couldn’t find him, and for a second he panicked. Was Liam really going to just disappear without warning one day, just like this? Was this actually the day that Liam disappeared for good?

As his heart rate increased, desperate to find Liam, he heard the man in charge of announcing the raffle winners say how there was a lot of wind today, and it made Theo’s eyes snap in that direction.

Just as he did, he found that Liam hadn’t disappeared, he was now next to the container with the papers, attempting hell knows what. 

“It’ll work, just trust me!” Liam yelled loudly, and Theo couldn’t help but look around nervously as if people could heard the tiny man yelling incoherently next to the container.

 

It took longer than it should’ve been for the raffle to end thanks to the fact that Liam kept messing up the tickets with whatever attempt at cheating he was trying to do, but it did work. Theo won something for the first time, but it just wasn’t anything useful.

“Dude, why are you saying that a Wii console is useless?” Liam frowned as he walked with Theo to find the blue truck.

“This isn’t gonna feed me or pay the bills, therefore  _ useless, _ ” Theo said as he adjusted the heavy box in his left arm, getting the keys to his truck out of his pocket.

“It’s entertainment!”

“I’m not a fan of video games,” Theo narrowed his eyes at Liam because he wasn’t really, he would pick some other hobby first than this.

“Just give it some time, you’re going to love it,” Liam said with enough hope in his voice for the both of them. Theo just sighed but didn’t try to argue with him anymore.

 

Two weeks later, Theo still hadn’t found his love for video games.

Since he didn’t have money to buy any other game, they were stuck playing Wii sports because it’s the only disc that came with the console. And by  _ we, _ it means that Theo managed to somehow put a hook on the roof of the living room so he could hang the Wii remote by its strap from there and Liam could try and move it with whatever super abilities he had. 

Liam sucked at video games this way. He had been trying to be decent at it but it’s impossible when you’re relying on wind and you can’t hold the remote. Theo couldn’t help but smirk as the ball went to the gutter for the hundredth time.

“Goddamn it!” if Liam was capable of holding the remote he would’ve thrown it to the floor so hard a hole in the ground would’ve appeared.

“You’re just a sore loser,” Theo teased, his smile bright enough as he readjusted in the couch to throw the ball at the pins on the tv.

“You would be too if you lost every single game for the past few weeks,” Liam huffed. “If I was alive, I would’ve kicked your ass at bowling so hard you wouldn’t even set foot in another bowling alley again.”

_ But you aren’t, _ Theo thought and his smile faded quickly. He didn’t say that out loud, he didn’t need to add more misery to the entire situation with his unfriendly reminders.

Instead, he settled for saying, “We’re not even playing in a real bowling alley, calm down.”

Unsurprisingly, Theo scored almost perfectly once again, and the game ended. Liam moved his hands up, fingers curling like he was about to choke the life out of the tv if he could.

“Well, that was  _ fun, _ ” Theo deadpanned, shutting off the console and throwing the remote on the couch.

“Talking about fun,” Liam began speaking before Theo went in a rant of how pointless playing video games was. “I was thinking that maybe this whole ghost thing is meant for me to help you, you know, as your emotional te-”

“Stop it. Maybe she’s wrong,” Theo tensed when he got reminded of those words, because he didn’t want to remember what was going to happen if he didn’t find a solution quickly.

“Maybe she isn’t,” Liam said hopefully.

“Why do you believe in  _ that _ all of a sudden?” Theo threw Liam’s words back at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Why don’t you? You were so desperate to find information about ghosts and pretty much believed anything that would even give you the slightest explanation, and when you were given one that I’d say was convincing enough, you suddenly say it’s bullshit?” Liam said, his voice rising, trying to understand what was going on Theo’s mind for once because he was being very confusing at the moment.

“How would  _ you _ help me? You were of more use to me when you were alive than when you’re dead,” Theo muttered but it was enough to make the lights flicker and he could’ve sworn he saw Liam’s silhouette flicker for a second like a glitch.

Theo was not a superstitious person. No, he was not. Fuck that shit that people keep saying only to make other people paranoid.

But he’d be lying if he denied that for just a moment he became one of those people, his eyes widening in horror at the fact that maybe him saying he didn’t need Liam would make him go away.

“Theo? You okay?” Liam whispered, and it felt strangely familiar because it made Theo snap out of his tragic thoughts.

_ When she left, he had already found peace and balance in his life,  _ Lydia had said.

Well then, he just had to never find peace and balance in his life until he finds how to bring Liam back from the dead. Which shouldn’t be that hard to do, judging by how his life is declining on a daily basis even more than the stock market is right now.

Theo gave a half-smile to Liam as he walked past him to make his way to the kitchen, leaving Liam staring at him in confusion.

 

Liam did worry about Theo sometimes.

I mean, being dead gave him all the time in the world to just sit back and  _ think,  _ and  _ analyze _ stuff. All his life he was self-aware to the fact that he was a really oblivious person; it took a while for things to sink in and for him to realize stuff because he was always too caught up on something else and life just happened too fast he never got a break.

But when you’re guaranteed eternity for the most part, you can sit back and look at the little things.

He could look at the way the color of the sun was different when it was rising than when it was setting, which was a totally mind-blowing thing on its own. Being able to not sleep and always be awake, but still never get tired, gave him all the time in the world to see these things.

He could also hear and appreciate how the city came back to life slowly as the sun went up, with little noises becoming predominantly louder and louder as morning passed by.

But one of his favorite things to do was observing Theo, because even though he didn’t do much, seeing him interact with the outside world when it seemed like he was in a constant fight against life and society was just interesting on its own.

He noticed how Theo would roll the sleeves on his hoodie when he got frustrated with something, or the way he would run a hand through his hair as he inhaled to try and regain control of his emotions or whatever.

Before, he thought that Theo was this cool and calculating person that had his life on control and could pretty much achieve whatever no matter the costs. But seeing him on a daily basis while he was unaware that anyone was looking… well, the cracks in the cool persona were starting to show.

Liam was beginning to realize stuff,  _ yes _ , but he wasn’t an expert on psychology all of a sudden to figure out the  _ why’s _ or anything behind it. He realized how Theo would get agitated when the ghost topic was brought up, but he didn’t understand why. 

Was it being too much of a pain in the ass to deal with on top of everything? Was Theo annoyed with Liam being with him at all given times? 

“Maybe I should stay here for today,” Liam suggested to Theo a couple days later as the older boy was almost on his way out of the apartment.

“What? Why?” Theo said in a heartbeat and it was noticeable that he tensed, and if Liam still had his werewolf hearing he would bet that his heart rate had spiked in that moment.

“Because maybe me being around you all the times is just too overwhelming for you and you deserve a day off of ‘babysitting the ghost’, because really,” Liam snorted, trying to make the situation lighter. “It’s not like anyone’s gonna  _ kill _ me while you’re gone for eight hours.”

“You think I’m annoyed by you? Liam-” Theo started but then sighed, running a hand through his own hair, and  _ there it was _ , that reaction once again, trying to keep his emotions in check.

“So you prefer me following you around all day rather than me staying here?” Liam questioned, and yup, probably he still had some of the obliviousness left from his past life judging by the ‘ _ Really Liam? Really?’ _ look Theo was giving him.

“Yeah, I prefer that rather than…” he trailed off the sentence quietly, making Liam confused again.

“Rather than what?” 

“Nothing, just follow me to work,” Theo grabbed his keys and opened the door, heading for his truck.

 

When they got in the truck, it looked like Theo was regretting telling him to come along. But just slightly.

“So maybe it’s like Michelle said then,” Liam started and Theo sighed.

“Drop it.”

“She said unfinished business right? Maybe it’s like a bucket list.”

“A bucket list,” Theo repeated, dumbfounded.

“Yeah, like I died so young so before I go to heaven or hell or whatever limbo I’m supposed to go to, I have to do the things I wanted to do before I died.”

“You really believe that the reason why you haven’t died completely is because you didn’t do a few things? Really? And that you got stuck with  _ me -  _  evil, broke Theo - to help you fulfill your list so you can rest in peace?” Theo raised an eyebrow incredulously, and Liam looked like he was beyond done at how dumb Theo had made it sound.

“You’re not evil anymore, you’re just an asshole most of the times,” Liam frowned, looking at the road instead of Theo.

“Let’s say your theory is right. What would be the things on your bucket list that would free you from this world?” Theo entertained the idea and he seemed by far relaxed, more than he had been these past few weeks, so Liam continued talking.

“I haven’t been to Disneyland.”

“No.”

“It’s a big goal everyone wants to do at least once in their lives-” Liam started half-yelling but Theo cut him off.

“I haven’t been to Disneyland either and I went to hell and back. Not happening.”

“But-”

“Even if I agreed, which I’m  _ not _ , with what money do you expect me to pay? Also I would look like an idiot by myself in Disneyland talking to the wind, so not happening.”

“You look like an idiot talking to the wind on a regular basis, what difference does that make?” Liam questioned, and it earned a glare from Theo.

“If I could I would shove you out the car without hesitation,” Theo snapped, which only earned a chuckle from Liam because no, he wouldn’t.

“Six flags?”

“No.”

“Universal?”

“No.”

“Disney world?”

“What makes you think that I’d agree to go to the one in Florida if I didn’t even want to go to the one in the actual state we live in?”

“It was wishful thinking,” Liam muttered and sighed disappointedly.

“The closest thing to an amusement park that I’d take you to is the fair that’s a couple blocks from where we live, and that’s asking for too much,” Theo joked but his tone was kind of serious, like he expected Liam to argue with him over it.

“We?” Liam couldn’t help but ask because that’s the only thing that got his attention from Theo’s annoying sentence.

“What?” Theo asked, confused.

“You said ‘where  _ we _ live,’” Liam repeated, and he noticed how Theo tensed for a slight second before he went back to normal. Classic Theo.

Theo was silent for a while, staring down at the road as he contemplated how to answer this. 

“You know what I meant… where  _ I _ live and  _ you _ ghost around. Better?” Theo said but despite the sarcastic comment and Liam giving him the middle finger, he couldn’t help but keep smiling at the ‘where  _ we  _ live’.

Because this was Theo, who wouldn’t really deal with anyone if given the actual choice, including him in part of his life. It shouldn’t mean that much, but to Liam in that moment it kinda did.

He didn’t tease him again though, the rest of the drive to Theo’s work was kept in silence for the most part, until Theo parked and his phone started ringing, making the chimera confused at the unknown caller while Liam’s eyes went wide as he recognized the number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise y'all won't have to wait long to figure out the cliffhanger, also it isn't anything bad, so don't worry.


	7. How dare he make me care?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sORRY. It's been almost three months, I am the worst, school and work are the worst, depression is shit.
> 
> But anyways. Here is the chapter, and if lucifer getting cancelled taught me anything is to not leave anything with cliffhangers ever again.

**** “Don’t pick up!” Liam yelled, alarmed and severely confused as to why his own mom, of all people, would be calling Theo. How the hell did she even get his number? What is her goal?

“Give me one reason not to,” Theo said while the ringtone kept playing in the background. Liam still looked panicked, but he kept being mute. Theo had enough of it and slid his thumb across the screen to answer the call.

“Hello?” Theo answered while still looking at Liam, who felt like he wanted to jump out of the car.

“Theo, hello, it’s Liam’s mom,” realization dawned on Theo’s face as to why Liam didn’t want him to answer the phone, but it was followed by confusion because he didn’t know why she was calling. 

“Oh yes, uh…” he trailed off awkwardly, waiting for her to explain the reason of her call. “Not to be rude Mrs. Geyer, but why are you calling me?”

“I was calling because there was some stuff left from Liam’s stuff from the garage sale, clothes and such, and my husband and I were wondering if you wanted any of it?” Mrs. Geyer explained, her tone sounded worried for some reason. 

Both Theo and Liam were staring at each other with confusion on their faces, and not to be rude but Theo felt something was sketchy about all of this.

“Uh, sure…” Theo replied, sounding more like a question than anything else. “When do you need me to pick the things up?”

“Whenever you can, they’re only a few things, but we figured you’d need them,”  _ Right. Charity for the homeless-but-not-really kid. _

“I could come by in a couple of hours, is it okay?” the sooner he was done with it, the better.

“Yeah sure.”

“Okay, thanks,” Theo said and hung up. 

“Well, that was…” Liam began to say but was cut off by Theo, who was thinking the exact same thing.

“Weird? Yes. How did she even get my number?” Theo questioned Liam, but the ghost boy just shrugged.

“My phone, I guess.”

“Well, free clothes never hurt anybody. Only downside is that I’m gonna be looking like you, and some of your clothes were awful,” Theo snarked as he turned around to drive towards Beacon Hills.

“Says the guy with patches on his three hoodies because he can’t buy clothes,” Liam bit back, and Theo snorted, letting him have that one.

 

The sun was almost setting by the time Theo arrived and parked on the Geyer family’s driveway. He got out of his truck and looked at the house as if feeling some kind of nostalgia, remembering all the times he had to drop off Liam at his house after late-night fights against the hunters. 

He began to walk towards the entrance of the house, Liam following closely behind. Theo told himself he was just going to get the boxes and get out of there as fast as he politely could. Hell had made him soft apparently because he couldn’t be on the same room as Liam’s family, knowing he was the only possible form of communication between them and his dead son.

He knocked on the door a couple of times, Dr. Geyer opening the door. Theo had seen him before at the hospital, but hadn’t really talked to the man.

“Hi, I’m here to pick up some of Liam’s stuff?” Theo explained himself. Liam noticed that Theo was tapping his foot like he was anxious about even being there.

“Oh yes, Theo, right? Come on in,” Dr. Geyer opened the door wider to let him in. Theo waited for Liam to go in first before he did so the door wouldn’t get closed on his face, even though he could’ve easily gone through it later. 

Mrs. Geyer appeared on the living room soon enough, she had an apron and cooking gloves, which meant she had been making dinner. Theo turned to look briefly to his side where Liam was standing, and he noticed the bittersweet look in Liam’s eyes as he looked at his parents but wasn’t able to talk to them. Must be hard - not that Theo could relate, he didn’t even know where his parents were.

“Theo hi! Liam’s stuff is upstairs in his room, they’re just two boxes but we figured you could use the stuff,” she said and she seemed like she was in a better mood than before when he saw her at the garage sale. Still, if you look closely, you could see the feeling of grief that was probably never going to leave her.

“Right, thank you, I’ll go get the boxes…” Theo said and was on his way to the staircase when he was stopped by Liam’s mom talking again.

“Why don’t you join us for dinner?” she suggested and turned to look at her husband, who was quick to agree with her. 

_ Shit.  _ This is what Theo was trying to avoid. He turned to look at Liam as if expecting him to say something to get him out of this situation, then he remembered he was a ghost, so it was as useless as it gets, but when he looked his way, Theo saw that Liam kind of looked like he wanted to stay, at least to see his parents for a bit longer. 

“I don’t want to bother and interrupt your dinner-” he began to make an excuse, but he was cut off once again by Liam’s parents waving him off and saying the opposite. 

“You aren’t bothering us at all, any friend of Liam’s is welcome anytime here,” Mrs. Geyer said, and Theo felt like he was stuck in a place where he had to agree. Between the persistent invitation, and Liam’s face, he sighed in resignation.

“Okay, yeah I can stay for dinner,” he awkwardly said and followed the couple to the dining room.

This felt bizarre. If someone had told him that he would be eating dinner with his dead friend’s parents one day he would’ve laughed and told the person that they were high. Yet here he was.

Don’t get him wrong, the food was really good - it was nice to have a home-cooked meal after years of just getting by with shitty food. But he felt out of place, he didn’t exactly have any topics he could share. What was he going to say? Talk about his evil experiences, hell experiences, or boring job experiences? 

Small talk was made, and Theo just nodded politely because the conversation was being carried by Liam’s parents, until the questions started way towards the middle of dinner.

“So Theo, how did you become friends with Liam?” Mrs. Geyer asked, and Theo remained expressionless. Liam’s stare burned into the chimera, waiting for him to see what kind of story he would make up.

Theo chuckled at first, before gathering his words to answer.

“We weren’t exactly  _ friends, _ ” Theo summarized it, because he didn’t have a story up his sleeve. Anything was better than saying  _ ‘your son used to punch me in the face, broke my nose up to four times.’ _

“How so? Judging by what he told me back then when he tried to convince us to get you to move in, it seemed like you two were close,” Mrs. Geyer commented.

“He even said you had saved his life a couple of times,” Dr. Geyer added to the conversation.

“He did?” Theo said incredulously, turning to eye Liam briefly.

“Yeah he did,” Mrs. Geyer smiled at the memory. “We knew he wasn’t the most popular at school, often times he didn’t even want to go. He was bullied at his old school, so we figured it was the same here.”

“When he told us that, we were glad he had someone who had his back,” Dr. Geyer said.

“I, uh, helped him a couple of times, nothing that bad,” the comment made Liam snort from his place at the table. Theo was sure they were both thinking of memories on the elevator, which were far from  _ nothing bad _ , they had been life-threatening situations. 

“So why did you say you weren’t friends?” Mrs. Geyer inquired, snapping Theo out of his thoughts.

“We didn’t really share classes, I’m a year older than he was,” Theo said. It wasn’t a lie, but he conveniently avoided the part where he didn’t even finish high school to begin with.

“I’m sure you knew Scott and Stiles then? From lacrosse?” Dr. Geyer asked.

“Yeah, something like that,” Theo answered. “I’m not a sports kind of guy, I wasn’t on the lacrosse team.”

“Then how did you two meet?” Mrs. Geyer asked, clearly curious now.

“History class,” Theo lied. “Liam was always good with history, he was in my history class.”

“Ah, he loved to talk about history,” Mrs. Geyer reminisced, and Liam couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, he does,” Theo muttered under his breath, because if he was being true to himself, he found it endearing sometimes.

“So I guess your living situation got fixed?” Liam’s mom changed the topic, but it seemed the longer the conversation continued, the harder it was going to become for Theo to lie.

“Yes, I have my own place now and everything is settled,” Theo answered. He kept tapping his foot under the table, because this conversation was making him anxious. 

“Good to hear that,” Mrs. Geyer said, she had that motherly look on her face, and it made Theo want to bolt out of the room as soon as possible. “We would’ve been glad to have you here, I still remember how worried Liam was about you sleeping in your truck-”

“She is exaggerating!” Liam yelled, but despite his outburst, his mom continued talking.

“I’m sure he was exaggerating the situation, it wasn’t that bad-”

“He also told us you couldn’t apply to college because you had no money, but that it was such a shame because you were very intelligent,” Mrs. Geyer continued.

“He did?” Theo felt shocked at the revelation, because while it was true he wasn’t going to college, he never expected Liam, of all people, to be worried about this? In fact, he wasn’t even worried about it himself.

While on the other hand, Liam had his hands covering his face and he looked like he could melt at any moment from embarrassment.

“He did. He said you liked science,” Dr. Geyer pitched in. “If you still want to apply, I could write up a letter of recommendation for you if it’s a health program you’re interested in.”

“Thank you, but I think I’m okay where I am right now,” Theo said, and while it wasn’t completely true, he couldn’t really begin to think about himself for once. If he did and he began to move on with his life, he risked Liam disappearing, and that couldn’t happen.

“Offer is still standing if you ever change your mind,” Dr. Geyer commented, and the topic moved on to a story he had while at yesterday’s shift at the hospital. 

Dinner continued without any other question to Theo, and it was as nice as it could get for a stranger to be having dinner with his dead sort-of-friend’s parents. Dr. Geyer had to excuse himself because he was working the night shift at the hospital, and it only remained Mrs. Geyer, Theo and Liam.

 

After Mrs. Geyer left to put the plates on the dishwasher, Theo took the opportunity to go upstairs to Liam’s room so he could get the boxes and get out of there as soon as possible before any other questions were asked. Liam was trailing behind him, going on and on about how his mom made it sound like a big deal, and how he only said the college thing so they would sympathize with his situation and let him move in.

Theo started looking through the contents of the boxes quickly, picking up a red shirt that had a few familiar holes and slashes in it, and snorted at the fact that Liam kept it.

“You kept this?” Theo asked rhetorically, shaking his head but still a smirk was plastered on his face.

“Look, it could’ve been fixed! Most of my clothes kept being ruined on a daily basis thanks to the hunters-”

“Yeah, Liam kept a lot of stuff,” both boys were startled by Mrs. Geyer’s sudden presence in the room. They had been bickering that they didn’t even noticed when she walked in. “Still don’t know why he kept a ripped shirt.”

“He never had the best judgement,” Theo said too quickly, then backpedaled once he realized he was talking to Liam’s mom. “Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s- it’s okay. How was he, normally? Was he happy?” Mrs. Geyer asked, sadness in her voice.

“At times yeah, I guess he was,” Theo sighed. He never had thought about how he would describe Liam if asked. “His ability to snap at anyone that pissed him off was impressive, and while he might have lacked common sense most of the times, he was really intelligent in other areas. History, mostly.”

“You think I’m intelligent?” Liam said, narrowing his eyebrows. 

“He was always getting in trouble because of his temper,” Liam’s mom said and Theo couldn’t help but chuckle while remembering the five times he had to knock out the werewolf to avoid getting in trouble.

“He was good in a fight, I’d give him that,” Theo nodded as he spoke, scrunching up his nose automatically as a reflex and as a reminder of when Liam had broken his nose, multiple times. Liam smiled to himself and stood straight, as if he was proud of himself because of what Theo had said.

“I just wish he had been more careful…” Mrs. Geyer trailed off, and - oh God, here comes the tears. Literally the worst thing that could’ve happened to Theo in that moment.

“Mom, don’t cry-” Liam began to say but it was no use because she couldn’t hear him. “Theo, do something!”

Theo just shrugged and mouthed  _ ‘What am I supposed to do?!’ _ in Liam’s direction.

“I don’t know!” Liam unhelpfully said, Theo sent him a death glare.

“I’m sorry, it’s just- still hard to talk about it,” she sniffled and wiped some of the tears off of her face, while Theo just grimaced unhelpfully.

“I’m sure wherever he is,” Theo made a brief pause to glare at Liam. “That he misses you a lot.”

After a brief moment in an attempt to change the topic, Mrs. Geyer moved near the boxes to try and pick one up but Theo stopped her.

“I got them,” he said and stacked one box on top of the other, then carried them. When they were downstairs, Theo thanked her for the dinner, and opened the door. Liam got out first and Theo was about to follow, when Mrs. Geyer stopped him for a bit.

“If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call us, we’d be happy to help,” she said and Theo nodded, and was about to turn around and leave for good, but stopped again when she kept talking. “He truly cared about you, Theo. I know you said you weren’t really friends, but I knew my son and I know he might’ve been tough because of his temper, but he wouldn’t have insisted so much to help someone if he didn’t care about them.”

Liam winced and Theo was a bit speechless, part of him firmly believed it wasn’t true because she didn’t know the whole story, but there was a part of him that felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. He stood frozen holding the lightweight boxes, and turned around to look once more at Mrs. Geyer, she still had that motherly look on her face. 

_ ‘It’s okay you know, to admit you care for him,’  _ Lydia’s words were ringing in his mind at that moment.

“Goodnight Mrs. Geyer, thanks again,” Theo said and she waved goodbye as she closed the door. He put the boxes in the trunk of his truck, then without a word opened the door and got in.

“Well that was embarrassing,” Liam stated the obvious because he still felt like his cheeks were on fire. “For the record, my mom made it sound more dramatic than what it really was.”

“Which part? The part where you were worried about my well being for once, or the part where they basically wanted to make me enroll into college like I was their kid?” Theo sarcastically replied, bringing the engine back to life, and driving away from the house a little bit too quickly.

“She took it too personal, my mom basically wanted to adopt you as soon as I said you were homeless,” Liam scoffed.

“Why would you even wanted me to live with you, weren’t you afraid I was going to kill you in your sleep or something?”

“Not really. And if anything, I would’ve just gotten personal chauffeur privileges,” Liam joked, but Theo was staring at the road, his face expressionless once more.

Minutes passed, and the silence was kind of uncomfortable for Liam. “What, no comeback for the chauffeur comment?”

Nothing. Not a single word was spoken, Theo remained looking idly to the road, as if he hadn’t heard Liam at all.

“Theo? You okay?” Liam tried once again, the silence really bothering him now.

“Why don’t you just hate me, like the rest of your pack?” Theo said, but he wasn’t angry, no, he was calm but his voice was cold, which made Liam flinch.

“At some point I hated you, yes. But… not anymore. We already talked about this-”

“Yeah I know. It’d be easier if you hated me,” Theo muttered but Liam managed to hear him.

“What does that mean?” Liam asked, confused. All he got was silence in reply. “Theo, what do you mean?”

“Nothing Liam, don’t overthink it,” he said, but Liam noticed he was tense. Theo was gripping the steering wheel tighter than usual, his teeth were clenched, he was still glaring daggers at the road. Liam narrowed his eyes, not moving his gaze away. With each second passing, Theo got more tense and Liam knew he was close to snapping. 

“What would be easier-”

“No.”

“I just wanna know-”

“I said no.”

“But-” 

“Liam-” Theo warned, he was clearly angry and about to snap. But Liam,  _ stubborn, risk-taking Liam, _ dared to speak again. 

“If you don’t tell me I’m leaving-”

“It would be easier to not feel guilty because I don’t know if I can bring you back, okay!” Theo finally snapped, and decided to park on the side of the road. When he got out, he slammed the door harder than usual, making Liam flinch at the sound it made. 

Liam didn’t take it as a shock that much, because he was aware there was a high possibility that he wouldn’t be brought back to life. However, what shocked him the most was Theo saying he felt guilty.

Liam got out of the car and stood by Theo’s side, who was currently leaning on the hood of his truck, arms crossed, burning holes into the ground with his eyes. 

“I knew it wasn’t a sure thing that you could bring me back, but why are you feeling guilty about it?”

Theo bit his tongue, afraid he was going to say something else.

“I will find a way, I just need time,” Theo said and began walking away, not even turning to look at Liam.

“I’m not asking you to- hey asshole, I’m talking to you!”  _ Damn it,  _ Liam cursed under his breath as he tried to catch up with Theo. He stood in front of him to stop him but Theo went right through, continuing walking. “Fine, I’ll guess then. You feel guilty because you care about me!”

Liam was just plain guessing in the dark, he didn’t expect to be right because he usually never was.

“So what if I do?” Theo yelled back at him, still continuing walking on the side of the road, cars passing him by. He must look out of his mind to be screaming at the wind, but that was just a usual day for him.

“Be honest- wait you do?” Liam was taken a bit aback by being right for a change. Theo stopped where he was, and after a few moments passed, he stomped back to be face to face with Liam.

“I was just as shocked as you are, but yeah, guess I do, sue me!” Theo angrily said, Liam guessed it took a lot from him to admit this so he was giving him a free pass. 

“Why-” Liam began to question but he was once again interrupted.

“I don’t know why Liam! Do you think I asked for this?!” Theo continued his rage rant.

“I didn’t ask-”

“You brought me back from hell, and for whatever stupid reason, I felt like I needed to save your life ever since! I didn’t want this, I didn’t  _ ask  _ for this, common sense usually tells me to run!” 

“If you want to run and move on with your life so badly, I’m not going to stop you,” Liam raised his hands in a peaceful sign, but he knew Theo wasn’t going to. He hadn’t figured out what Theo was getting out of this though.

“That’s the thing, I can’t!” He let out a hysterical but brief laugh. “If I even think about that you’d be gone for good and I-” 

“Wait, what?” Liam’s confusion increased, and Theo froze once again.  _ Shit. _

Shit, he had said too much.

“I’m not talking about this,” Theo moved to walk back to the truck, it seemed like his anger dissipated for a while but the tension was still there.

“We’re talking about this because it involves me, what do you mean I’m going to disappear?” Liam followed him to the truck, but Theo didn’t say anything until he was back in his seat, the truck still parked.

“If Lydia’s theory is correct- if the stupid tether thing is true, she said you might disappear after a while, that you’re supposed to ‘enlighten’ me towards getting a better life,” Theo gave up and sighed.

“So why don’t you? Move on, I mean,” Liam was surprisingly calm too, resigned that maybe it wasn’t meant to be for him to come back to life. “That way you could get rid of me and all your problems could be solved. The entire world believes I’m dead anyways.”

Theo looked down at the steering wheel like he was pondering the suggestion, and after a few excruciating minutes of silence, he spoke.

“Maybe because I don’t want to.”

“You don’t want to have a better life or you don’t want to get rid of me?” Liam asked, turning to look at Theo.

Theo turned to look at Liam and the pleading look he was giving clearly said  _ ‘Both’, _ making Liam nod as if he had understood the meaning but knew better to not push it this time. 

Theo started the engine once again and moved back into the road, the drive back to the apartment was quiet, but Liam’s mind continued overthinking everything. The fact that he could disappear forever at any given moment should’ve scared him more than it currently did, yet the only thing in his mind was this feeling he didn’t know how to place, but was towards Theo.

Theo, who was apparently willing to sacrifice a possible happy life just so Liam wouldn’t vanish permanently. Liam thought it was both stupid, but nice in its own way. The kind of stupid he would pull too.

Stupid Theo, making Liam care and grow more attached to him. How dare he.

He smiled slightly at the thought as he turned to briefly look at Theo once more, then looking away quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> he! cares! and! admitted! it! [jake peralta strumming a guitar and shrieking intensifies.gif]
> 
> i kinda regretted the dinner scene after all these months but i had set up the cliffhanger already, i played myself.
> 
> at least with this i can start writing the interesting parts i've been meaning to for a while so [devil smirk emoji]
> 
> thanks for being patient and for your support with comments and everything!


	8. Everywhere trees?!

Last week of July was fast approaching and Theo hadn’t made progress at all in finding a solution. The only one who has made progress at all was Liam trying to adjust to his ghost life.

He had gotten the hang of it when trying to control lifting things - smaller things, such as napkins, opening the curtains as well as cabinet doors, waking Theo up when he slept past his alarm... He only shattered one glass and that was by accident, so all in all Theo’s wallet hadn’t suffered any more considerable losses. 

Ever since the confession (if anyone could call it that), they hadn’t brought up the ‘caring for each other’ topic. Liam might’ve tried once, when Theo was being a dick as usual but it only earned him a death glare from the chimera as well as an empty threat of getting holy water and a possible cross to get rid of him.

Not that he wanted to get rid of him. That’s the last thing he wants.

But feelings for Theo were quite complicated because he had spent half of his life living in a cave with barely human interaction and tended to have sociopathic tendencies. It’s not like there is a manual called ‘ _feelings for dummies_ ’, no. All he had ever known was that he wanted power and would not stop until he got it.   
  
Then hell came around and it changed his perspective in life. He just wanted to be alive and not go to hell and for everyone else to leave him alone because life sucked. But then Liam came along, and after living with him for easily three months now he would be lying if he said he wouldn’t fight anyone who tried to take Liam away.

Which was a weird feeling in itself, because before the only person he was fighting for was himself, and he did a shitty job while at it, so now fighting in behalf of someone else, and having the stakes raised by having to figure out how to bring him back to life? It was too much to process, and Liam could see that Theo was becoming more tense as the weeks went by. Theo was barely sleeping and talked about anything else but what was bothering him. If Liam was asked, Theo looked more dead by this point than he did, even though he is a ghost.  
  
One day Liam had enough of it and took matters into his own hands to take care of Theo.   
  
And his way of taking care of Theo included slamming the door on his face so he wouldn’t get out of the apartment to go to work.   
  
“You’re not leaving,” Liam tried to say it in an authoritative voice, but it just made Theo snort in response.   
  
“Why not?” Theo entertained the idea to see what Liam could possibly threaten to do.   
  
“Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Last night you barely slept, so you’re going to call in sick to work for at least one day so you can go back to sleep,” Liam crossed his arms, and tried his best to mimic one of the faces his mom used to make when he forgot to clean his room.   
  
“Not sleeping well for a day isn’t going to kill me,” Theo picked up his keys from the couch. “Now let’s get going.”   
  
“One day yeah, but you’ve been getting nine hours of sleep total in the entire week and I would like very much for one of us to actually be alive,” Liam said and it made Theo stop, his hand still on the doorknob.   
  
“You’re still watching me sleep like a creep?” Theo bit back, jaw a little bit tense.   
  
“You’re still having nightmares that you don’t wanna deal with?” Liam was expecting some kind of retort from Theo, so luckily he was ready.   
  
“I’m leaving for work,” Theo twisted the doorknob and was on his way out but he saw Liam was not moving at all. “You’re gonna just stand there or are you going to follow me?”   
  
“I’m not going,” Liam said and pretended to lean on a chair. “If you so badly want to go, then leave without me.”   
  
_“Liam,”_ Theo said in a trying voice because they were both aware Theo was not leaving without Liam.   
  
_“Theo,”_ Liam mocked him in the same tone, waiting for the chimera to give up and admit he had lost this time.   
  
Theo was tempted to leave, he didn’t want to put up with tantrums but he knew the small risk of Liam going _‘poof, gone!’_ was there. And maybe for once it was okay to listen to him, maybe this once Liam was finally right on something because in reality Theo was too tired, both physically and mentally.   
  
He ended up giving in, he walked back in and closed the door, throwing his keys back into the couch again.   
  
“Thank you, now-“ Liam was interrupted by Theo walking into his room and closing the door right on Liam’s face. He counted to ten and went straight through the door, and Theo was halfway through taking off his shoes, then falling into the bed like he just had run a marathon.   
  
“Dick,” Liam spat as he made his way towards the corner of the room Theo had put a chair on so Liam could sit. “What’s the point of shutting the door if I can just walk right through?”   
  
“The irritated look on your face,” Theo mumbled, he was face down and the pillow almost made it impossible to speak correctly. “Ghost or not, that’s always been priceless.”   
  
Liam rolled his eyes. “Look at me, sitting here and actually caring for your wellbeing for once and all you do is act like an asshole.”   
  
“Nobody asked you to,” Theo rolled around on the bed so he could be facing Liam.   
  
“Nobody asked you to care about me either yet here we are,” Liam retorted and yes, he dared to bring that topic back, and in that moment Theo wished he could have the ghost abilities so he could vanish through the wall to avoid talking about this.   
  
“Whoever sent you from wherever place, from hell most likely, did.”   
  
“You could’ve said no. You had the choice.”   
  
Theo rolled back again to his initial position so he wouldn’t have to look at Liam anymore, so he could take the hint that the conversation was over. Yeah, he knew nobody had forced him to accept this responsibility, but he would be lying if he said his life hadn’t improved at least a little bit since Liam appeared on that living room.   
  
He had been completely alone, no friends, no family, yet now he had company and being with company was... nice.   
  
Even if that company was a little shit that likes to flicker with the lights to get his attention.   
  
“Didn’t you want me to sleep?” Theo rhetorically asked Liam.   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“Then stop with the lights.”   
  
“Fall asleep then.”   
  
“I’m trying to.”   
  
“I don’t hear you snoring,” Liam said and Theo threw his pillow to the corner, the object going right through Liam.   
  
“I don’t snore.”   
  
“Because you haven’t heard yourself- alright, you don’t snore,” Liam gave up after Theo turned to glare at him.   
  
Silence passed for a good fifteen minutes and Theo still couldn’t fall asleep.   
  
“Are you sleeping?” Liam whispered even though he knew the answer.   
  
“No.” Theo was extremely tired, yes, but even then he couldn’t sleep because he knew what was waiting for him.   
  
“Is it the nightmares?”   
  
_Yes._ “It’s none of your business.”   
  
“Do you still see Tara?” Liam continued asking and this time Theo took a while to answer.   
  
_No._ “Sometimes.”   
  
“What about the other times? Look, we can talk about this- what are you doing?” Liam narrowed his eyebrows as he saw Theo opening a drawer on his nightstand and taking out a small bottle that contained certain kind of yellow pills. He took one out, and swallowed it, then he put the bottle back in and closed it.   
  
Ever-curious, Liam stood up and opened the drawer by air force, almost knocking the lamp down. He made a mess and rummaged through the drawer until the bottle got knocked down so he could see the label.   
  
“Wolfsbane pills? Are you trying to get poisoned?!” Liam freaked out.

“Relax, Deaton gave this to me. It’s the equivalent of sleeping pills for humans, it’s the right dosage and it helps to sleep. I only take it in extreme cases, and since you’re not letting me leave until I sleep this called for desperate measures,” Theo said, closing the drawer once again.  
  
“Fine,” Liam gave up and went to his spot on the corner. “But if you die from poisoning and end up as a ghost I’ll make sure they pair us up so I can continue annoying you forever.”   
  
“Deal,” Theo mumbled, the pills kicking in already.

 

“Theo, I’ve got a plan,” Liam’s voice said and Theo opened his eyes. Suddenly they were in a different place, some part in the forest.  
  
“Plan for what?” Theo was kind of confused and was waiting for Liam to explain when the beta grabbed his hand and started running towards something.   
  
Theo was shocked by the fact that Liam could touch him again that he didn’t pay attention to where he was going, he started to think it was a dream when suddenly he hit his face, hard, against the dirt on the ground.   
  
He got up, one side of his face mostly covered in dirt, and then he saw a large tree stump in the middle of the woods, Liam standing on the other side of it.   
  
“Why did you bring me here? And since when can you touch things?” Theo tried to wipe off some of the dirt and leaves that got stuck to his hoodie and jeans, doing more damage than whatnot.   
  
“They’re coming,” Liam didn’t answer any of Theo’s question, instead he sounded worried and in a hurry.   
  
“Who? Who’s coming?” Theo was more annoyed than anything because he didn’t understand if it was real or not and Liam wasn’t being helpful at all.   
  
“There’s no time, you just gotta remember.”   
  
“Remember what? This isn’t the ghost riders, they’re gone,” Theo spat back.   
  
“Remember this-” before Liam could finish his sentence, six shots appeared all across his chest and he started bleeding, just like that time at the elevator.   
  
Theo rushed to his side, holding him as he started shaking because of the bullets.   
  
“What do you need me to remember?” Theo asked, desperately.   
  
“T-this...” Liam put a hand over the top of the tree stump then he slipped away.   
  
“You’re not dying,” Theo said angrily as he tried to grab his arm to hopefully take the pain away. He couldn’t, everything went pitch black for a second, then Theo was back to the woods in the exact same spot, kneeling nearby the tree stump, but instead of holding Liam, he was holding the broken pieces of the sword that sent him to hell.   
  
As if they burned, he let them fall to the ground and got up as quickly as he could, observing the entire scenery once again. The wind, the leaves, everything about that place seemed dead, as if it was haunted. His hands started to shake and he was feeling fear, just like before Tara came to haunt him in hell.   
  
But this time she didn’t come. The only thing he heard before everything disappeared was _‘Now you can bring me back to life.’_

 

“AH! Jesus, fuck!” Theo woke up all of a sudden and he hit his head against something. It took a few seconds for him to realize where he was, and apparently he was on the floor of his room and he had just hit his head against the nightstand.  
  
“Aren’t you an atheist?” It was the first thing Liam said, but even though he was attempting a lame joke, the worry was evident on his face.   
  
“Good morning to you too,” Theo said as he made an effort to get up from the floor and sit in his bed.   
  
“I told you the wolfsbane pills weren’t a good idea,” Liam scolded him like a parent would the morning after a huge hangover.   
  
“How long was I out?” Theo said as he stretched.   
  
“Ten hours. You slept fine for most of them, but towards the last hour you started shaking and despite me yelling at you to wake up and threatening to wreak havoc to your truck if you didn’t, you kept being asleep. Then you fell to the floor, started sweating and shaking again, and I began to make air to keep you cool at least. Then suddenly you woke up and hit your head,” Liam related the story with perfect detail like it was just another typical day.   
  
“That explains the breeze,” Theo murmured, remembering his nightmare.   
  
_Remember this._   
  
“What?” Liam asked but he got no time before Theo was putting on his shoes and making his way out of the room. “Theo, what are you doing?”   
  
“We,” Theo said, grabbing his keys once again. “Are going on a little stakeout.”   
  
“To where? Also you haven’t eaten anything since-”   
  
“I’ll pick up something on the way, let’s go,” he said as he rushed out the door, Liam trailing behind him.   
  
“Are you going to tell me where are we going this late at night?” Liam hissed, getting into the truck just as Theo did.   
  
“It’s almost eight, what are you, a grandma?” Theo spat back, putting the keys into the ignition.   
  
“I’m not a grandma, I’m just saying we shouldn’t go outside this late when hunters are out there trying to kill us!” Liam said through gritted teeth.   
  
“They can try if they want, I got these,” Theo got his claws out to make a point, not even bothering to take his eyes off the road.   
  
Theo’s erratic behavior matched one of a crazy genius who just had an epiphany and was about to solve a theory.   
  
After forty minutes driving, Liam started to panic when he realized where they were.   
  
“The woods?! Are you trying to get killed on purpose? Goddamn it, Theo-” he said but he got ignored, as Theo started to make his way quickly into the woods. He even passed the bridge where his sister died and he didn’t spare a look.   
  
“Theo, slow down, what are you looking for?” Liam asked as he caught up with Theo.   
  
“A tree, there’s a tree here somewhere,” Theo said as he turned around, looking for the same tree stump from his nightmare. He was sure he knew the name of it, but for some reason his brain wasn’t helping to remember it.   
  
“Trees? There’s plenty of them, be more specific!” Liam yelled but got no answer until a while after.   
  
“There’s a tree that was cut down, it was huge and it’s somewhere in here,” Theo continued his search but no luck.   
  
Liam was thinking about what could possibly be when the answer struck him. “The nemeton?”

That sounded oddly familiar.

“The what? You know about this?” Theo questioned him, a bit of paranoia in his voice.  
  
“Yeah yeah, I remember once Scott and Stiles mentioned something about a tree called that, supposed to be a beacon for the supernatural or something,” Liam said.   
  
“Do you know where it is?”   
  
“I don’t know, it’s not like I go looking for supernatural trees in my spare time!” Liam raised his hands then let them fall dramatically, but Theo didn’t even notice.   
  
It still didn’t stop him. He was deep in the woods, still looking, almost tripped once, avoided a hole to fall into (thankfully Liam wasn’t human because he probably would’ve fallen on it, again), but he didn’t find anything.   
  
“Theo- hey, Theo look at me!” Liam said and he tried to put his hands in Theo’s shoulders, forgetting briefly he couldn’t touch, when yet another spark went off and it felt like Theo had been electrocuted.   
  
“Ow, what the fuck?!” he snapped, rubbing at his shoulders but at least he had stopped on his frantic search.   
  
“Could you tell me why do you need to find that tree?” Liam tried with a calmer tone, but truth be told he was _this_ close to snapping.   
  
“Where did you leave the pieces of the sword that sent me to hell?” Theo nervously said.   
  
“The pieces- is this about a nightmare?” Liam was even more confused now.   
  
“Where are they?” Theo kept pressing.   
  
“Theo relax, no one can send you back to hell again! I stacked them under a tile on my bathroom floor but no one knows I put them there. If it makes you feel better, nobody has any idea how to put it together and make it work, it’s not like you can put superglue in it and bam, send people you hate to hell,” Liam tried to lighten up the situation, but Theo was still tense, he could sense it.   
  
Theo sighed and sat on a log that was nearby where they had stopped. He still wasn’t talking, but anyone could see the tension and worry radiating from his body. In that moment, Liam wished more than anything that he could just hold Theo’s hand and tell him that everything was going to be okay.   
  
Even if he could, Liam knew Theo would probably just punch him in the face for holding his hand in the first place.   
  
“I won’t let anyone else send you back to hell Theo, you have to believe that,” Liam said because it was the best he could do to reassure the chimera during these trying times.   
  
“It’s not that, it’s-” Theo started and Liam looked hopeful that maybe, _finally,_ Theo would start to open up and discuss what was really happening on his nightmares.   
  
“I saw that tree, and also the pieces of the sword and it felt so real, I...” Theo choked on his words because he couldn’t let Liam know he was seeing him dead in his nightmares.   
  
“Like someone was trying to send you back to hell? Or-” Liam paused, waiting for Theo to finish the sentence.   
  
“I don’t know. Maybe? It just felt like someone was trying to tell me something.”   
  
Liam was worried for Theo, especially because it was getting late and they were still in the woods, and hunters might be around.   
  
“Tell you what, why don’t we leave it for another day? We have all the time in the world, let’s get something to eat, I’m starving,” Liam lied but he hoped it would distract Theo from his thoughts.   
  
“You can’t eat, how are you starving?” Theo rolled his eyes and got up, both boys were starting to make their way back at a normal pace to where the truck was parked.   
  
“I was hoping you didn’t notice. Dude, if I was alive I’d totally leave you broke from all the food I would eat,” Liam joked.   
  
“Who said I was gonna pay for your food?” Theo snorted.   
  
“I did,” Liam stated.   
  
“If anything we would just dine and dash, I don’t have the money to pay for food for eight.”   
  
“Why eight?” Liam glared at him.   
  
“Liam, I’ve seen you eat. Remember that time after the zoo, when you were too tired and hungry and we ended up on a shitty diner afterwards?” Theo recalled the memory like it was just a couple of weeks ago.   
  
“I hadn’t eaten all day, and I even paid that time!” Liam complained.   
  
“Yeah but you ordered two hamburgers, two extra orders of fries and a jumbo drink with refill. If I had been paying, I would’ve been lucky to get a glass of water,” Theo said.   
  
“Blame it on werewolf metabolism. Also you knocked me out five times that day. Five!” Liam put his hand up to make emphasis on the five.   
  
“Forgotten already? I decked you several times before that,” Theo said like he was proud of himself for that one. He remembered Liam’s offended face when he yelled at him to shut up followed by a punch, and a small smile started to make way towards his lips.   
  
“Yeah and I broke your nose three times, yet you said I wasn’t good on a fight.”   
  
“I said you were good in a fight when you’re angry.”   
  
“What about when I’m not angry?” Liam questioned.   
  
“If you learned how to properly control yourself and how to fight accurately other than throw punches blindly I’d say you’d be... slightly better,” Theo shrugged.   
  
“You’re gonna teach me, Theodore?” Liam knew his full name pissed him off, which was the reason why he just had to use it this time.   
  
“When I bring you back to life, I will,” Theo promised.   
  
“ _If_  you bring me back to life,” Liam corrected him.   
  
“ _When_ I bring you back to life, dumbass,” Theo turned to look at Liam briefly and he gave him a half smile that for the regular eye would be more sarcastic than whatnot, but Liam knew that Theo rarely smiled, and even if the times when he had seen him smile were mostly when Theo had just mocked him, he knew it was somewhat genuine.   
  
The walk back to the truck seemed way faster than it really was, Theo was calmer and Liam... he was glad to see him relaxed. He thought Theo looked better when he was relaxed.   
  
Liam’s eyes went wide open when he realized what he had just thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's wonders what no school and a lot of free time can do to a person. I wrote this chapter while at work on my phone because inspiration just hit me like a train, and I'm halfway done with the next one, which is gonna be fun.
> 
> Also this chapter includes a key part in the story, feel free to guess which ;)  
> -Alejandra


	9. The loser on lane 11

For once, Theo found himself waking up after 7 hours of sleep - no pills, no nightmares, no disturbances. It seemed like it was going to be a good, peaceful day.    
  
It was a Sunday, and despite the hot weather - courtesy of August, the hottest month in California - he was planning on doing nothing so he could be ready for the rest of the week.   
  
After taking a shower, he went and poured some cereal for breakfast. He sat on the couch, turned on the television and left it on whatever channel it landed on, and was about to take the first bite when Liam startled him.   
  
“Theo!” Liam whispered in a loud tone, making Theo drop his spoon into the bowl with a loud splash.    
  
“What? I haven’t even eaten breakfast yet,” Theo snapped, taking the remote and putting the tv on mute to listen to whatever Liam had to say.   
  
“It’s my birthday Theo,” Liam said as he stood there and  _ oh. _ Theo didn’t know, and to be fair it isn’t like he celebrated his own birthday either.   
  
“It’s not like I can get you a cake because you can’t eat it either way,” he said as he returned to eat his breakfast. After Liam said nothing, he turned to look at him and realized the comment might have not been appropriate.    
  
“I know, I just-” Liam shrugged but Theo cut him off.   
  
“Fine. What do you usually do?” Theo gave in simply because he thought about how this is probably hard for him, since he wouldn’t be able to do much and the only person he could spend the day with was Theo.   
  
“Well, I usually go bowling with Mason and a couple of his friends,” Liam fidgeted and he seemed kinda nervous.   
  
“Bowling. Hmm,” Theo said while he continued eating. “Your pack doesn’t throw you a party or something?”   
  
“Parties aren’t really my thing,” Liam narrowed his eyes as he remembered flashbacks of the few parties he has gone and how there was always something that went wrong.   
  
“Right,” Theo got his phone out and started looking for bowling places nearby.   
  
“We went to the one in Beacon Hills every year, it was kind of a tradition,” Liam added as he peeked at the phone’s screen.   
  
“So we’re going to drive half an hour to go to a bowling place when there is one ten minutes away from here?” Theo said as he tried to make sense of Liam’s train of thought.   
  
He ended up giving in anyways after seeing Liam’s expression fall even more. When he agreed though, Liam cheered up and it was a nice change to see him like this. He still hadn’t figured out what exactly Liam was going to do at the bowling place, but if he wanted to go then they’d go.   
  
He wondered in what moment he started to just go along with whatever plan Liam had, but it was a problem for another day.

 

They had a few hours to kill until the evening, so Theo took Liam to a small but cheap bakery that was three blocks away from where he lived. He passed it everyday on his way to work but hadn’t actually gone inside, the place seemed like it was pretty empty most of the time.   
  
“What about a chocolate cake?” Liam said as they were observing what kind of cakes they had to go. The place was run by a woman in her mid-50’s but she wasn’t paying much attention to the customers.   
  
“I don’t like chocolate cake,” Theo said quietly, settling his eyes on another small cake.   
  
“How can you not like chocolate? That’s the standard flavor for any birthday!” Liam complained.   
  
“Yeah, if you were ten. Remind me what is your age now?” Theo fixed him with a look that made Liam scoff.   
  
“I was supposed to turn eighteen today, but I don’t know what the rules are when you’re a ghost. Do I get older or am I just going to stay this way forever? If you manage to bring me back to life, does that mean my birthday changes?”   
  
“What about this lemon cake?” Theo pointed at a small cake that was on his price range.   
  
“Lemon is only good in pies, not in cake,” Liam said.   
  
“I’ll get the vanilla one then,” Theo said and stood up straight, ready to pull his wallet to go and buy it.   
  
“Vanilla is such a plain flavor.”   
  
“It’s a decent flavor and I’m the one that’s gonna be eating the cake.”   
  
“Can you pick another one?”   
  
“I’ll buy the carrot one if you keep it up.”    
  
Liam remained silent for a few seconds. “Suddenly vanilla doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”   
  
Theo smirked and the lady at the register was giving him an odd look, probably because he was talking to himself. One of these days he should invest on buying a bluetooth accessory so people won’t think he’s talking to himself.   
  
“I’ll take that cake,” Theo pointed at a smaller cake that Liam hadn’t looked at before.   
  
“Vanilla and chocolate? Nice choice,” the lady said while smiling, taking the box out of the fridge and putting it into a bag.    
  
Liam was left staring at Theo’s back and he was gaping because he didn’t think Theo would agree, but it seems like he’s been doing it a lot lately. It warmed Liam’s heart when he thought about it.   
  
“Can I also get those candles?” Theo said in a quiet voice as he pointed behind the counter to a package of candles.   
  
“Sure, how many do you need?” the lady said as she went to gather the candles pack.   
  
“Eighteen candles total,” Theo told her, pulling out a few more dollars out of his wallet.   
  
“You’re turning eighteen?” the lady asked him to continue the small talk as she scanned the two packs of candles.   
  
“No, it’s for a friend actually,” Theo said and Liam snapped his head towards them. Theo calling him friend without anyone else that knew them looking was certainly a first.   
  
“Well, here you go, happy birthday to your friend, have a nice day!” the lady said and Theo nodded as he grabbed the bag and headed out.   
  
“Did you buy the cake that also had chocolate for me?” Liam teased but he also seemed really curious.   
  
“It was cheaper than the plain vanilla one,” Theo said but if Liam still had his werewolf powers he would’ve heard how Theo’s heart skipped a beat when he said that.

 

They made it to the apartment and Theo quickly set everything up; he took the cake out of the box then put the eighteen candles on it, got a lighter and lit every single one of them.   
  
“Make a wish,” Theo motioned for Liam to blow out the candles, but Liam just raised an eyebrow.   
  
“That’s it? Aren’t you supposed to sing happy birthday or something?” Liam asked.   
“Do I have to?” Theo retorted.    
  
He hated how soft he had gotten lately whenever Liam asked him to do something. If someone had told him he’d be stuck singing happy birthday to a ghost he’d probably tell them to send him back to hell.   
  
Theo sighed as he began singing the stupid song and he was severely off-key, but for Liam it didn’t matter. The fact that Theo was making the effort despite him hating everything that has to do with birthdays was enough.   
  
Until Theo said  _ ‘happy birthday dear Casper’ _ instead of Liam, and he wanted to punch him.   
  
“Now let’s make a wish,” Theo eyed Liam with a mischievous glint on his eye. Liam eyed him warily but it’s not like the cake was going to explode or anything, so he was just going to blow out the candles and-   
  
Despite him blowing with enough air, the candles remained lit and unharmed.   
  
The candles.   
  
“Did you just waste ten bucks on magic candles?” Liam glared at him because of course it was something Theo would do.   
  
“Worth it,” Theo grinned as he watched Liam try to blow out the candles once again but with no result. He took out his phone and took video of Liam attempting for the third time to blow them out, but even if it was just a video of the wind blowing the candles, Theo would remember the occasion.    
  
After Liam got severely annoyed and was cursing at the candles, Theo took them out and put them in the sink to turn them off with water.   
  
“Guess it’s a good thing I’m not human because I bet you would’ve shoved my face into the cake,” Liam said and it made Theo snort.   
  
“Yeah I would’ve,” he said as he cut the cake and took a piece. Despite Liam not being able to eat, he decided to cut an extra piece and put it in a plate in the opposite side of the table, as a symbolic gesture for Liam.   
  
“This is actually decent,” Theo said with a mouthful of cake.   
  
“Told you everything is better with chocolate in it,” Liam said with his smart-ass tone.   
  
“Let’s agree to disagree.”

 

The afternoon went by faster than expected, they had been playing video games, or more like Theo had been playing COD and Liam had been yelling at him for being a little shit and never reviving his online teammates.   
  
When it was past six, Theo and Liam set off to the bowling place because Liam wanted to go before it gets more crowded. Truth be told, Theo had never been bowling before but he figured it should be easy, because what’s so hard in throwing a ball and make pins fall, right?   
  
“So how exactly are you gonna bowl if you can’t hold the ball?” Theo asked Liam as they were in line to pay for the game.   
  
“I was thinking maybe you could throw for me and I’d just adjust the direction of the ball with my powers?” he shook his hands for emphasis, making enough wind to ruffle the hair of a girl that was standing in line in front of them.   
  
The line moved quickly enough, and when Theo saw the prices he realized it was unlikely that he’d ever go bowling again. If he wanted he could just play the stupid wii sports game instead of wasting 20 bucks on a lane for an hour.   
  
“Evening, do you want to pay for one game or hourly?” the employee asked Theo and he looked quite confused.   
  
“Ask for the hour, it lasts longer,” Liam whispered close enough to send shivers through Theo’s spine.   
  
“Hourly,” Theo said as he pulled out a $20 from his wallet.   
  
“What are the player’s names?” the employee asked.   
  
“Uh, Theo,” he began then looked at Liam, who just motioned for him to give his name to the employee. “And the other one is Casper.”   
  
“Like the ghost?” the employee looked at Theo weirdly but typed it anyways.   
  
“It’s a real name actually,” Theo fake smiled as he moved on to get his pair of sneakers, hearing all the curses Liam was saying as he followed him to their lane.   
  
“Asshole. You’re just taking advantage that I couldn’t speak for myself, otherwise I would’ve told the guy to write Theodore for you,” Liam scoffed. “Let’s see if they call you a chipmunk then.”   
  
Theo let out a real laugh at that joke as he prepared to make his first throw. He focused on the pins, tried to calculate a reasonable distance, and when he thought it was okay, he threw the ball.   
  
He managed to knock down only two pins.   
  
“That’s your best game? Really?” Liam yelled as if he was watching a football game and his favorite team had screwed up an important play. “I would wipe the floor with you if I could use these hands.”   
  
“Yeah, and I’m sure once I get better at it and you’re losing, you would’ve punched me and broken my nose, but guess it was for the best,” Theo said as he grabbed the ball to make his second try at the first turn.   
  
He managed to knock down three pins this time, and for Theo that was progress.   
  
“So now what? What’s your big play?” Theo sat down on the chairs that were at the beginning of their lane, waiting for Liam to try something.   
  
“You’re gonna throw for me, from far behind and I’ll control the direction,” Liam explained, anxious but ready to begin playing. He took everything like a competition so Theo wasn’t even surprised.   
  
“Wouldn’t that be just me playing against myself?” Theo questioned.   
  
“In theory, no,” Liam said.   
  
“What if I just screw up the throw on purpose so you can lose?” Theo raised an eyebrow cockily as he stood up and made his way to grab another ball to throw the next turn.   
  
“Don’t you dare, hey!” Liam exclaimed and clapped his hands. “I’m watching you Raeken.”   
  
Theo smirked and threw the ball. When he did so, Liam ran in front of him to try and steer the ball on the right direction with enough wind, but it was a little too much so the ball ended up in the gutter.   
  
“Well that was a nice one,” Theo sarcastically said as he stared at the unmoving pins.   
  
“Shut up asshole,” Liam was riled up already and it was just the first turn. Theo couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like for an entire hour.   
  
“Let’s try something different, go on and throw the ball again,” Liam ordered and Theo did as told, reluctantly. When Theo was getting ready to throw, Liam tried to grab his arms to steer him into the right direction, but once again all Theo felt was as if he was being electrocuted, which made him throw the ball abruptly and it ended up in the gutter once again.   
  
“Congratulations, you have a perfect unbeatable score of zero,” Theo joked to wave off the fact that he felt electricity running through his arms. Liam only groaned in frustration at the fact that he was inevitably going to lose this game.   
  
And so they continued, immersed on their own little bubble; both were improving respectively, with Theo being a quick learner and Liam... well he had managed to knock down two pins, so it was progress. They were having a good time nonetheless despite Liam’s constant cursing and Theo’s snarky comments.   
  
To the rest of the world, they only saw the loser on lane 11 playing by himself while talking to his imaginary friend called Casper.   
  
But it’s not like Theo knew any of these people, and it’s not like he gave a fuck what they thought either way.   
  
Unbeknownst to him, Mason, Corey and a couple of their other friends were eight lanes apart, with Mason eyeing Theo curiously, but neither Liam nor Theo had noticed him.    
  
“Theo?” Mason decided to go to Theo’s lane after all and it made Liam jump in surprise, and Theo was frozen in place, face remained expressionless.    
  
“Mason,” Theo said as he turned around slowly to face the human.   
  
“What are you doing here?” Mason asked, his voice full of suspicion. Theo didn’t expect any less.   
  
“Bowling,” Theo replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.   
  
“On a Sunday night?” Mason continued questioning.   
  
“Yes,” Theo replied. Liam was just watching both of them nervously, because he knew Mason has never been Theo’s biggest fan, and without him there he couldn’t tell Mason to calm down and not be rude to Theo.   
  
“In Beacon Hills? Don’t you live in another city?” Mason crossed his arms, suspicion as high as ever.   
  
“Yes, as far as I know there isn’t a rule that prohibits me from coming here to bowl,” Theo said and he knew he sounded too defensive, but his nerves were on edge.   
  
“On Liam’s birthday?” Mason said it and it made Theo silent like he was thinking what to reply to that.   
  
“Theo?” Liam said when he saw Theo wasn’t saying anything else, he was just standing there with that look in his eye that said he wanted to walk away from the conversation.   
  
“I didn’t know it was his birthday today,” Theo lied, continuing his uninterested facade and turning around to keep playing.   
  
“Look man, I know you two had a weird, complicated... relationship, and it’s okay if you’re here because of it,” Mason tried to explain, his tone sounded more resigned than suspicious now.   
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Theo evaded and someone should give him an award for not breaking even in the toughest of times.   
  
Mason looked at the board and saw the results, which were abysmal compared to an average bowler, and he noticed the name Casper on the screen and he felt pity for Theo.   
  
“Why don’t you join us for a drink? We’re about to have a toast in Liam’s honor and continue playing. It was supposed to be his eighteenth birthday after all,” Mason suggested.   
  
Theo was waiting to see what Liam wanted to do, but he remained silent after all.    
  
“I’m fine, I already pay for the lane, so,” Theo said and Mason just nodded, understanding the chimera wanted to be left alone.   
  
“Got it. We’re gonna be over there in lane three if you want to join us after,” Mason said and without further word, he returned to where his group of friends were.   
  
“If you wanna go with them...” Theo trailed off to Liam as he was calculating his next shot.    
  
Liam looked worried, like he was weighing the pros and cons. He missed his friends, of course he did, but what would be the point in going if he couldn’t speak with them? And he knew Theo would be on pins and needles if he had to sit there and pretend like he gets along with the guys. After all, Mason never trusted or liked him, Corey was still scared of him, and the other guys would notice something was up because Theo would be like the antisocial friend that never wants to talk to anybody and was there because someone forced him to.   
  
“I’m good here,” Liam said as Theo was returning to their seats. “I’d rather spend the time with someone I could talk to than someone I’d be ghosting around.”   
  
Theo remained emotionless, like whatever Liam decided wouldn’t affect him either way, but he’d be lying if he said his heart didn’t skip a beat when Liam decided to stay with him.   
  
“Besides, I still need to kick your ass at bowling,” Liam joked, trying to lighten up the mood.   
  
“I think it’s a little late for that Casper,” Theo motioned at the board that said the hour was up, the score said Theo had won by 63 points, whereas Liam had... 14 points.   
  
“Are you kidding me?! I definitely made more points!” Liam yelled, giving the screen the middle finger.   
  
“You’re lucky you made any points at all,” Theo joked and suddenly they were in their own bubble again, the two of them against the world and nobody else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a really good day so far and I had this chapter already finished since yesterday so I thought why not post something that could cheer someone else up? :D
> 
> See y'all in a few days with a new update!  
> -Alejandra


End file.
